Basford United go down at 10-men Matlock Town

Basford United suffered a 2-1 defeat against Matlock Town on Tuesday night as Ross Hannah scored twice and was later sent off at the Proctor Cars Stadium.
The Basford bench look on helpless at Matlock.The Basford bench look on helpless at Matlock.
The Basford bench look on helpless at Matlock.

The former Bradford City striker opened his season’s account with a smart finish early on following good play down the right by Jesurin Uchebgulam.

He then doubled Town’s lead moments later when he poked home following a defensive mix-up but was dismissed after an alleged elbow on United defender Stef Galinksi midway through the second half.

Substitute Rev James ensured a nervy finish when he fired a late goal for Steve Chettle’s men, but it was all they could muster as they failed to build on their goalless draw against Scarborough Athletic on Saturday.

“We were very poor,” Chettle said. “We gave ourselves too much to do first half and I spoke inside about tactics, formations but everything else goes out the window when you make two personal mistakes like we did in the first half.

“Brad has got to take his medicine on the halfway line.

“Stef says that their striker has shouted “’keepers!”, so he’s left it which is irrelevant as he’s got to clear the ball and deal with the first cross in.

“We changed it at half time, we were better, and they had a man sent off. We huffed and puffed, and we even scored a goal ourselves but, in the end, we weren’t good enough.

“We played too many long balls in the first half. We’ve got strikers up there who want to play, and we’ve fed straight into Matlock’s hands, really – we know what they were about.

“We’ve watched them twice; we had the video from their defeat at Ashton United from the weekend. We’re know they’re aggressive in the press and we had to be better and cope with it.”

Chettle added: “In the first period, we picked up two or three second balls which weren’t enough and that got on top of us.

“Adam (Collin) hasn’t had a shot to deal with in the second half but we didn’t create enough guilt-edge chances to get something out of the game.”

Basford made one enforced change from the weekend’s game and gave a first competitive start to 17-year-old Nathaniel Peters, rewarded for his showing against Boro, who replaced injured skipper Matt Thornhill.

However, they made the worst possible start when on four minutes, Uchebgulam pounced on some hesitancy from Brad Gascoigne and his low cross was neatly dispatched into the top corner by Hannah.

United reacted well and had a few half chances of their own; Declan Dunn’s pass to Aaron O’Connor was slightly overhit, whilst Ryan Wilson’s free-kick was easy for home ‘keeper Shaun Rowley.

Town’s Ryan Qualter was lucky to remain uncarded after of a few cynical fouls on O’Connor and James Clifton, but he was celebrating soon after when Hannah again capitalised on some uncertain Stef Galinksi defending to prod home his second on 17 minutes.

The lively Uchebgulam was causing a handful of problems down United’s left but it was the visitors who looked the most likely to threaten again and had Gascoigne’s raking pass found Wilson, they may have reduced the deficit before the half hour.

Peters and Dunn then linked up well to force a free kick deep on the right flank and Galinksi’s powerful header from Wilson’s dangerous delivery crashed off Rowley’s right-hand post for Basford’s best chance of an otherwise disappointing half.

As was the story on Saturday, Rev James’ introduction at the break sparked some life and he was unlucky not to draw a penalty when he was hauled down in the area on the hour, but referee Jamie O’Connor waved away all protests.

O’Connor endured a busy evening and was at the centre of a controversial moment shortly after when he had judged that Hannah – competing aerially with Galinksi – illegally challenged the defender with a leading elbow and sent Town’s talisman for an early bath.

Now with the man advantage, Chettle threw everything forward hoping for a way back into the tie and saw plenty of the ball as the seconds ticked and with five minutes remaining, they found the goal their second half showing deserved.

Marshall’s knock down caused all sorts of panic in the Town box and substitute Owen Betts pounced on the loose ball.

His shot was blocked, but the ball fell kindly for James who slammed home United’s first goal of the season and set up a tense ending.

A 20-man melee then ensured in Rowley’s goal as a late corner posed a final second threat, but referee O’Connor blew for a foul and ended any Basford chance of a late equaliser.

“We have to play smarter,” Chettle rounded off.

“We’ve got a corner in the last minute of the game, there’s a million around the goalkeeper and as soon as the ball comes in, the referee’s going to blow the whistle.

“Play smarter! Get out the way and give yourselves an opportunity to get yourself an equaliser at the end of the game.

“Don’t go and play with your heart and get all emotional about things – we must try and play the game properly.

“OC’s (striker, Aaron O’Connor) has been around a long time; Wayde (Hines) is a young kid learning his trade, but we have to be smarter as a group.”

Next up they travel up to Greater Manchester on Saturday looking for their first win of the season against Atherton Collieries (3pm).

MATLOCK TOWN: Shaun Rowley, Jamie Sharman, Reece Kendall, Sam Egerton, Ryan Qualter, Mark Lees, Alex Byrne, Alex Wiles (Jonathan Wafula 87), Ross Hannah, Jesurin Uchebgulam (Kayde Coppin 77), Callum Chippendale (Declan Walker 90). UNUSED SUBS: Oliver Greaves, Craig Carney.

BASFORD UNITED: Adam Collin, Dominic Roma (Owen Betts 77), Ryan Wilson, Brad Gascoigne, Stef Galinksi, Declan Dunn, James Clifton, Alex Howes (Wayde Hines 82), Marcus Marshall, Aaron O’Connor, Nathaniel Peters (Rev James 45). UNUSED SUBS: Jordan Pierrepont, Niall Towle.

ATTENDANCE: 518.