I totally agree about mat and the call for needing to be fair to him... I'll also add that Demandred had much greater resources than Mat. Mat was completely outnumbered and outgunned. That is why he HAD to gamble. He knew that if he didn't gamble there was no way they could win. He had the foresight to recognize this from the beginning.

Mat should have lost that battle. There is no way he should have been able to pull it off.... yet he did.

Who was the better general out there? Mat for sure! In all Demandred's arrogance, he marvelled at the skill of the general on the other side.... considering the ego factor, he basically admitted that Mat was better.