Injury time winner gives Matlock Town's survival hopes a massive boost

Source: Matlock Mercury

Published Date: 08 March 2009
UniBond League Premier Division
Matlock Town 2 FC United of Manchester 1

MATLOCK Town gave their survival hopes a massive shot in the arm with a 2-1 home victory over play-off chasing FC United on Sunday, a dramatic winner coming in the second minute of injury time.

In front of a huge crowd of 1,038 FC United dominated a lot of the game but Matlock showed great determination and tenacity, especially after going behind to a soft goal on nine minutes.

A faulty back pass from Danny Wood gave Carlos Roca an opportunity to flick his shot past the exposed Paul Pettinger.

United held the upper hand but out of the blue Dene Cropper equalised with a 35th minute header.

Matlock had to defend for long periods but Ross Hannah could have won it for them on 88 minutes but he saw his penalty saved by visiting keeper Sam Ashton after a handling offence.

There was more drama to come though and in the 92nd minute Hannah then played in Jamie Jackson who fired a diagonal shot low into the corner to secure a terrific Matlock win.

The Gladiators climbed above Boston United into 19th place and Matlock now face a real 'six pointer' on Wednesday night when fellow strugglers Buxton, currently 17th, visit the Geoquip Stadium. Kick-off is 7.45pm.