Matlock Town and Shirebrook Town battled for a place in the Derbyshire Senior Challenge Cup Quarter Finals, at the Proctor Cars Stadium on Wednesday 13 December.

The Gladiators went close to taking the lead inside 15 minutes when captain John Johnston squared the ball across the box to the club’s top-scorer Margetts, who blazed his effort well over the bar.

Martin Carruthers’ Matlock managed to find a breakthrough in the 34^th minute as Jonny Margetts, who has been prolific in front of goal this season, managed to find the back of the net on his return from injury. The striker received the ball from Anthony Dwyer before driving into the Shirebrook box and slotting low into the bottom corner with a composed finish.

Shirebrook’s best chance of the half came when Marcus Day broke through on goal and attempted to chip Saul Deeney in the Matlock net, but Ioan Evans did brilliantly to get across and clear the danger.

But Matlock continued to pile on the pressure and eventually doubled their advantage midway through the second half. Substitute Olly Clark found space in the box and nodded the ball home from Johnston’s corner, to score with his first touch of the game and extend his team’s lead.

Deeney was called into action early in the second half as Shirebrook searched for an equaliser, parrying away a strike to keep Matlock ahead.

It was all Matlock in the closing stages as the hosts had plenty of opportunities to score a third, but were not clinical enough in front of goal.

Evans made several vital saves to keep Shirebrook in the game, including an excellent reflex save low to his left to deny Clark’s first-time strike.

However, Shirebrook failed to threaten in the closing stages, with the game ending 2-0 to Matlock, which sees the Gladiators progress to the Quarter Finals.

Written by Ella Barber