Dolly Blues sunk by Wiles’ solitary strike

In truth, Mark Fell’s men probably deserved a share of the spoils after a spirited display.

The Dolly Blues went down by a goal in the first half as midfielder Alex Wiles continued his impressive goalscoring form, but they responded well and would have had a late equaliser to celebrate had Enock Likoy not been spectacularly denied by Jim Pollard in the Matlock goal.

The game started in Matlock’s favour when, after five minutes of play, they came close to an opener, Jordan Barnett striking the angle of crossbar and post.

Ed Ikpakwu was then on hand to deny the hosts another opportunity to break into the lead, stretching to block an Alex Byrne effort before the winger’s instant second attempt ran wide of the post.

However, the Gladiators’ pressure eventually told as Wiles powered a strike beyond Curtis Anderson after he capitalised on an unclaimed ball in the box.

City fought admirably to try and get themselves back into the game. They were able to introduce the influential Brad Carroll for the final 20 minutes which was a boost to the team then and certainly going forward, and grew into the game, peaking in the final 10 minutes.

Brad Hubbold struck a free-kick that deflected off the wall and could have gone anywhere, but fortunately for the hosts ended up in Pollard’s arms.

Then, the match was unexpectedly interrupted when Alex Byrne was abruptly sent off for a seemingly accidental collision with Anderson who sustained a head injury.

Sam Bailey donned Anderson’s luminous pink jersey for the final ten minutes as the keeper had to be taken off with no obvious replacement on the bench.

City were galvanised though and came forwards for a late flurry of opportunities, the best of which was Likoy’s a shot which looked certain to bulge the net behind Pollard’s top corner, but the stopper pulled out a fantastic save to deny the lively striker.