NOT for the first time this season, slipshod defending cost Matlock dearly.

Marine were beatable and not the usual force you would expect and Matlock looked generally comfortable, being worthy of a point.

But they switched off twice and were punished.

Ashley Foyle had not recovered from knee and ankle knocks so Ryan Davis and Ryan Laight were once again paired in central defence with the line up showing two changes.

As expected, Dene Cropper came in for Ross Hannah, who was beginning a three match ban, while Jamie Jackson was preferred to Gary Webster on the right flank.

The bench included both joint managers Phil Brown and Gareth Williams.

A strong swirling wind did not make for a pretty game and the
Gladiators had the elements with them in the opening half.

They made a promising start as inside the very first minute, Steve Warne drove firmly goalwards from 20 yards, but Mariners custodian Sean Lake was well placed to hold his shot.

Cropper was working hard in attack but there was a dearth of goalscoring opportunities in a scrappy contest.

Things looked up on 17 minutes when Jackson teased Wayne McDermott on the right before feeding the supporting Liam King whose cross was cut out at full stretch by the long leg of Joe McMahon.

But the first sign of a lack of concentration in the Town defence came on 29 minutes when Peter Cumiskey had a free header from a corner on the right but lifted the ball too high.

Almost immediately Matlock broke purposefully upfield and after Matty Caudwell's shot was blocked, Simon Barraclough collected the rebound,
but again Lake was in just the right place to save.

But Matlock failed to heed the lesson of Cumiskey's free header when they conceded another right wing corner in the 37th minute which gave Marine the lead.

Paul Woolcott's delivery was badly overhit but found Steve Hussey stationed wide on the left.

The midfielder returned the ball back into the box more in hope than meaning and the Town defence and Andy Richmond looked on in horror after failing to react with the ball bouncing just inside the far upright.

That was a body blow to Matlock who had been well in the game prior to then.

And they remained in contention as Marine could not get hold of the game by the scruff of the neck as most of the 330 crowd would have wished.

Cumiskey floated a free kick tantalisingly across the Matlock box but his Marine colleagues had gone AWOL.

Clear cut chances were still sparse and when one did fall to Matlock, Barraclough was ruled offside after Ryan Laight had blocked a Marine clearance.

Barraclough's header dropped wide in any case.

A 58th minute cross shot from Tim Bigland was deflected across goal, but that was the prelude to Matlock's best spell which brought them their equaliser.

After Caudwell had seen the massed ranks of the Marine defence charge his shot down, the ball fell conveniently for Barraclough.

The striker looked offside but play was waved on and a gilt edged chance went begging as Lake advanced speedily off his line to get a vital touch to snuff out the danger.

Then Warne set up Barraclough to shoot at Lake, but the equaliser came in the 66th minute.

Cropper poked a pass out to Jackson and then was flat out on the turf from the heavy challenge of McMahon.

Jackson skated past Wayne McDermott and crossed low with home defender Lee Williams deemed to have got the final touch under severe pressure from Barraclough.

Jackson was caught by McDermott and stayed down before being carried to the touchline in obvious grief to be replaced by Webster.

Now Matlock had something to build on, but any hopes they might have had of securing a deserved draw were killed off in the 74th minute.

Karl O'Donnell, who whipped in a hat-trick in Marine's 3-2 win at Causeway Lane last November, again was the thorn in their side.

He brushed aside Ryan Davis far too easily and left Richmond helpless with a precise finish beyond the exposed custodian.

The Mariners, who had not won at home since their 6-2 thrashing of Worksop Town on the season's opening day, had no intention of relinquishing their advantage again.

All Matlock could muster in the closing stages was a Webster shot which flew wide and a Simon Harrison free kick which was comfortably gathered by Lake.

The Gladiators had thrown away at least a point having kept Marine quiet for long periods, also having at least an equal share of the play.

That ruthlessness which Phil Brown had called for, at both ends of the pitch it still must be said, was again not there and is holding Matlock back.

Matlock Town: Richmond, King, Featherstone, Thorpe (Benger 84), Laight, Davis, Jackson (Webster 68), Warne, Cropper, Barraclough, Caudwell (Harrison 78)

Other subs: Brown, Williams.

Referee: P Dunn (St Helens)

Attendance: 330

Star man: Steve Warne