The Gladiators will be looking to make it four wins from the first four games in the Northern Premier Division as they face off against Gainsborough Trinity at home on Bank Holiday Monday.
Matlock maintained their 100% record on Saturday after a late goal from Marcus Marshall secured a 1-0 victory away at Stafford Rangers.
Three 1-0 victories in a row mean that Matlock find themselves at the top of the league at this, admittedly, very early point in the season.
The Opposition
The Holy Blues currently find themselves in eighth position in the league after a win, a draw and a defeat in their opening three games of the league campaign. In their last game on Saturday, Gainsborough drew at home 0-0 against newly promoted Warrington Town.
Trinity finished last season in sixth position and just missed out on a play-off place. Gainsborough’s joint managers, Liam King and Ross Hannah, will be very familiar faces to Matlock fans.
King played for the Gladiators between from 2009 to 2013 making 198 league appearances and scoring 28 league goals in that time.
Ross Hannah had a very prolific and successful spell in his time playing up front for Matlock. He won the Northern Premier League Golden boot award in the 2009-10 season and then went on to win the Evo-Stik League Golden Boot and the Non-League Golden Boot award the following season scoring an incredible 52 goals in all competitions. Hannah also won Matlock’s player of the year award for three consecutive seasons.
Gainsborough hold notoriety for being one of the smallest towns in England to ever have a team play in the Football League.
One to Watch
Gainsborough’s striker, Ash Worsfold, is worth keeping an eye on for Matlock’s next match. Worsfold has been Gainsborough’s top goalscorer in each of the past three seasons and is described by the club as a tireless and hard-working centre-forward.
Worsfold also has plenty of experience playing in Derbyshire as he has previously played for Alfreton Town and Buxton.
Team News
Steve Kittrick may have a bit of a headache choosing his starting eleven for this match as he’ll need to work out whether it’s worth making too many changes to a team that’s won every single game so far in this campaign.
Rotation may well have to be in effect however, with Matlock (once again) having to play two matches in the space of three days in what has been a very busy start to the season.
Josh Lacey and Jordan Sinnott could be given their first starts for Matlock after coming on from the bench in Saturday’s victory over Stafford Rangers to make their debuts for the club.
Piteu Crouz will also be looking to return to the squad for the first time after his goal of the season contender against Basford United.
Previous Meeting
Matlock’s last meeting with the Holy Blues was back on New Year’s Day at the Proctor Cars Stadium. The Gladiators were defeated 2-0 thanks to goals from Jonathan Margetts and Simon Russell.
The defeat brought an end to an impressive ten match unbeaten streak at home for Matlock and sparked a decline in form for the second half of the 2018-19 season which saw the Gladiators finish only four points above the relegation zone.
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