Goals from Theo Hudson and Rev James in the first half saw the Ambers cruising, but as Montel Gibson pulled one back for the Gladiators late on, an action-packed closing period saw the Basford hold on and take the crucial three points.

From the first whistle the Ambers looking the stronger side, looking dangerous on the counter from the early minutes. This pressure paid off as Taylor Anderson picked up the ball from a great Rhys Sharpe pass, before he rampaged down the right and squared the ball to Hudson who had an easy tap in to finish past Adam Hayton to give the Ambers the lead in the 8th minute.

The amazing start nearly got even better as the ball fell to Brad Gascoigne at close range, but he couldn’t connect with the ball properly. Hudson had another chance fall to him shortly after as he launched a looping header just over the bar.

While the Gladiators had their fair share of the ball, all the danger was coming from the yellow shirts as they once again caused chaos in the Matlock box from a long ball by Sharpe, but somehow, they cleared it before a Basford player could make a connection.

As the half neared a close, Basford were rewarded again for their first half dominance as James received the ball from 25 yards before he launched a fantastic curling effort towards the bottom left corner, taking the Ambers two to the good in the 41st minute in spectacular fashion as the ball smashed into the back of the net.

The second half was a quieter affair at first, with a long break for injury and a lack of real chances for either side. Gascoigne looked set to take the first big chance of the half by the hands for Basford but his header at close range went just over the bar.

With the clock nearing the final 20 minutes, the game started to open up as chance after chance kept going begging for the Ambers. The Gladiators eventually made them pay as the Amber shirts failed to deal with a corner, and Gibson reacted first by curling a shot towards goal, where a deflection saw it travel past Harvey Woodward and get Matlock a goal back in the 84th minute.

Matlock started to dominate the play as they kept pushing for a leveller, but the threat remained on the counter for Basford which was shown as Anderson broke free on goal, but he opted to square the ball instead when one on one with Hayton and a tackle from Finlay Tunstall saw the chance collapse.

Pressure mounted once again as the ball continued to enter the Basford box, and another shot from Gibson was spilled by Woodward, sending it creeping towards the net where only a brilliant clearance off the line by Ethan Stewart prevented the equaliser deep into injury time. The whistle blew shortly after to confirm that the Ambers had held on for a very important win.