​Matlock Town hold on to record impressive victory at Stalybridge Celtic

​Three goals up and cruising, and it could so easily have more, Matlock finished sweating and hanging on for the victory as the hosts fought back with two exceptional goals in the last 24 minutes.

Goals from Harry Wakefield, Al Byrne and Karl Demidh had put the Gladiators in a seemingly unassailable position as they out-fought and out-played the shell-shocked hosts who had chased shadows for much of the opening two thirds of the game.

But Harry Benns pulled one back and then in the 90th minute Ethan Henderson set up what proved to be a tense period of injury time for the Gladiators who avoided conceding again by the skin of their teeth as Jim Pollard made a sensational double save, pushing a Benns strike on to the post and the tipping the follow up from Djavan Pedro on to the underside of the bar, the ball bouncing down on to the goal line before Raul Correia knocked the loose ball over the bar.

The Gladiators maintained their high pressing approach which had been successful at South Shields on Saturday and that policy paid dividends within four minutes as Wakefield charged down a clearance from goalkeeper Greg Hall, the ball rebounding into the net off Wakefield’s face for an unreal, memorable and first Matlock goal for the number nine.

He might have scored again on eight minutes when Hall lost the ball on the edge of his penalty box, Wakefield nipping in to shoot goalwards but his shot bobbled agonisingly and narrowly wide of Hall’s right hand upright.

Then Demidh set up Wakefield again, his shot cannoning off the foot of a post.

Matlock doubled their lead in the 23rd minute as Johnston, in space on the left, slipped past Jacob Lara with consumate ease to feed Byrne who had time to tee up his shot which was fired accurately back across Hall into the bottom corner.

Matlock still controlled the show until the final minute of the half when a Tom Miller header dropped wide and Pedro shot tamely at Pollard.

Ioan Evans firmly headed a Byrne corner inches too high in the 48th minute but two minutes later it was 3-0 as an exquisite Byrne pass sent Demidh streaking clear and a superbly executed and delicate chip from the number ten looped over Hall and dropped beautifully into the corner.

Just after the hour Byrne drove narrowly wide of the far post, before the arrears were reduced when a bullet of a strike from 25 yards by Benns rocketed past Pollard.

Johnston struck the inside of the post on 76 minutes and then saw Hall block another effort ten minutes later, before a desperate stretching interception by Darius Waldron from Johnston’s cross nearly resulted in an own goal, Hall saving low to his left.

With 90 minutes on the clock Matlock conceded a free-kick 25 yards out and Henderson curled a tremendous direct shot beyond Pollard to set up the heart wrenching final few moments.

Matlock were lucky to survive but on the flip side their earlier dominance meant they were deserved winners.