Matlock Town face local rivals Buxton on Boxing Day at the Proctor Cars Stadium in the Northern Premier Division.
The Gladiators come into this festive derby clash with renewed confidence after an excellent past week where they knocked out Chorley in the FA Trophy First Round and finally got their league form back on track after an away victory at Bamber Bridge.
The Opposition
Buxton sit just outside the relegation zone in 19th position. The Derbyshire outfit have struggled this season winning only three of their twenty league matches so far and have also changed their manager recently. Gary Hayward left Hednesford Town in early December to take over from Paul Phillips as Buxton manager and Buxton are still unbeaten since Hayward took over the reins. In his three games so far as Buxton manager, the club drew 1-1 at home against Lancaster City, drew away at Nantwich Town 2-2 and then secured an excellent 5-0 victory at home against Scarborough Athletic in their most recent match.
Buxton are known as the Bucks and were formed back in 1877. They play at the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium which can hold up to 4,000 people and has a seated capacity of 490. The ground is notorious for being the highest football stadium in England. The stadium stands around 1,000 feet above sea level. Their most recent trophy victory was back in 2012 when they won the Derbyshire Senior Cup.
One to Watch
Twenty-four year old striker Diego De Girolamo will be a key player to watch out for on Boxing Day. De Girolamo was born in Chesterfield and began his professional playing career at Sheffield United. He’s had loan spells at York City, Northampton Town, Cheltenham Town and a spell at the Proact Stadium with his hometown club.
De Girolamo scored twelve times last season for the Bucks and has scored three goals in Buxton’s last two matches. The striker also has some international experience with appearances for Italy’s U18, U19 and U20 sides. De Girolamo qualified to play for the Azzuri thanks to his Italian father.
Team News
Jon Stewart is available for selection once again as his one month suspension for breaching betting rules has come to an end.
Jack Rea should be available for selection too after recovering from a period of illness but unfortunately Adam Yates is very doubtful for the Boxing Day clash due to a hamstring problem. Nathan Whitehead and Craig King remain on the long-term injury list.
Gladiator fans were given a Christmas gift when it was confirmed that Sam Scrivens loan move was mad permanent.
Previous Meeting
Matlock Town fans probably won’t want to be reminded of what happened the last time these sides met. In the penultimate league game of last season, the Gladiators suffered an embarrassing 6-0 defeat at home to the Bucks in front of a crowd of 575.
Liam Hardy scored four of the goals with Alex Brown and Diego De Girolamo bagging the others.
댓글