Matlock inflicted even more misery on basement side Durham in a one sided affair at Causeway Lane last Saturday.
The Gladiators gained the victory everyone expected, their third in a row, leaping to a respectable 12th spot in the UniBond League Premier Division table.
City's youngsters held out in 38 minutes of virtual non stop Matlock pressure to restrict the hosts to a slender one goal advantage by the interval. That lead had been trebled by the 49th minute.
And when Durham defender Gareth Ayers was sent off for a second yellow card offence shortly afterwards in a bizarre piece of refereeing, then it was just a matter of how many Matlock would score.
The six goal mauling completed another depressing week for Durham. Just twenty four hours earlier an FA Commission had fined them and ordered that six points be deducted from their zero points total following administrative malpractices earlier in the campaign. Durham's woes increased when they picked up six other yellow cards, while Matlock somehow collected three cautions, Nathan Joynes, Danny Wood and Lee Featherstone, by an official who had clearly lost the plot in the second half.
An unchanged Matlock line up might have gone behind though on 5 minutes. Striker Conor Winter was two yards offside but was allowed to race clear only to fluff his lines with a weak shot which Adam Sollitt saved comfortably. Durham would not have another such opportunity.
As Matlock turned on the gas, Ayers was forced to hack clear a Joynes header and then goalkeeper Rhys Jobling, Durham's star performer on the day, played his full part in frustrating the Gladiators for so long. He blocked superbly from Wood and then made Ross Hannah go wide and lose what looked to be a great opportunity.
Wood looked set again on 26 minutes only for Jobling to deny him but the best chance fell to Joynes when Jobling didn't need a save. The Town number nine drove wide when Jobling was the only obstacle in front of him.
Durham's resistance was finally broken when the ball fell to STEVE WARNE on the edge of the box to fire home low and hard off Jobling's right hand post. The goal came as a huge relief to those of the home faithful who were expecting their side to rack up a cricket score.
Those hopes received due encouragement in the opening four minutes of the second half as a quickfire double from HANNAH, who produced a brace of clinical finishes which had Matlock firmly in control.
It looked to be four as Joynes met a right wing cross. Referee Tankard initially missed Joynes palming the ball home and Ayers and Durham protested. The official had a change of heart as he awarded a free kick to the visitors, but made a nonsense of the decision by sending Ayers for an early bath.. Common sense should have prevailed.
Now all that concerned Durham was damage limitation and they were undone again in the 69th minute as Jobling brought down Hannah who had a gilt edged chance to complete his second hat-trick in Matlock's colours. But Jobling beat out the spot kick only to grimace as JOYNES followed up to bundle in the loose ball.
The siege continued as WOOD joined the party wih his first goal of the season, heading in Warne's cross from the right six minutes later.
James Lukic, sporting a bandage following a nasty head gash at Ossett four days earlier then ought to have scored, as did substitute Dene Cropper, who had made a marvellous recovery from another knee injury in that same game.
But the sixth goal and the best of the lot came in stoppage time as LIAM KING capped a superb display by cracking a tremendous twenty yarder into the roof of Jobling's net.
The banana skin was safely out of the way. Durham's college students worked hard, but there was a wide gulf in class in a mis-match of a contest.
Matlock did what they had to and could easily have hit double figures but for Jobling's first half performance and some wayward finishing.
MATLOCK TOWN: Adam Sollitt, Scott Brough, Lee Featherstone, Liam King, Adam Yates (Mark Haran 75), James Lukic, Darren Cartwright (Nathan Benger 64), Steve Warne, Nathan Joynes (Dene Cropper 75), Ross Hannah, Danny Wood.. Other subs: Josh Wain, Nick Buxton.
REFEREE: A R Tankard--Sheffield. ATTENDANCE: 283 STAR MAN: Liam King.
