Matlock Town (H) – Match Preview

I'm going to be sick of the sight of the word 'permutations' come Wednesday night, but it is what our next match is all about

1 point realistically, but 3 points mathematically, are what separates us from having our name engraved on the league trophy

Do they actually do engravings at this level? I’m going to have to find out

Anyway, back to the two teams

Our draw to Bradford Park Avenue was aided by Matlock losing to Heaton Stannington, which means with 7 games left and 21 points up for grabs, there are now 18 points between them and us.

Emley are also hovering around us, but with an extra match played, they are more or less out of the equation.

The most worrying part of Wednesday’s match is that Matlock have not lost twice in a row all season.

In fact, every defeat for them has amost always been followed by a comfortable victory

A 2-1 defeat to Basford United saw them hammer Pontefract 7-1

A 2-1 loss to North Ferriby saw them beat promotion rivals Emley 3-1

A 2-1 defeat to Blyth Spartans saw them put 6 past Blyth Town

A 3-2 loss at home to Heaton Stannington saw them beat Bishop Auckland at their place 4-2

A 2-0 defeat to Bradford Park Avenue saw them win 4-1 at home to North Ferriby, which was followed by a 4-0 loss to Emley, which was then followed by a 7-2 thrashing of Newton Aycliffe.

A 2-1 defeat to Dunston saw them put another 3 past Bishop Auckland, and that was their last win and match before Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Heaton Stannington.

A lot of numbers there, and in all honesty, they aren’t pointing to a lot of positive signs.

But we’re top of the league for a reason, and we will hopefully highlight that reason tomorrow night.

Matlock have bolstered their squad in the past 20 hours too, signing defender Jamie Williamson and Portuguese forward Bruno Andrade.

This is the same Bruno Andrade who, if you have been paying attention to non-league news, was just released by AFC Rushden and Diamonds for fighting with a teammate.

That teammate has moved to Corby Town, but as for Bruno, he is not only at Matlock, but he will also be part of their squad for our fixture.

He has a pretty intimidating record, too, having over 40 goal involvements, including 21 goals so far this season for the Division One Midlands (Step 4) side

Now, onto your probable champions.

Bosh was back on the scoresheet again as he bagged a 6th-minute goal on Saturday, and that brought the striker to 35 league goals, and he is still clear at the top of that ever-famous Step 4 top scorer charts.

We also still possess the most lethal partnership in the step too, with Brad Fewster’s 23 putting the pair on 58 goals, with Three Bridges duo Reece Hallard and Noel Leighton having a combined total of 56

Defensively, Josh Mazfari’s long-running away clean sheet record was sadly halted due to Bradford PA’s 65th-minute strike.

The final tally for our defence, though? 964 minutes away from home without conceding a goal. From the 22nd of October to the 21st of March. Just one day short of 5 whole months!

Now on 122 league goals scored, and 88 points too, meaning we have already shattered the goal record, and we are well on track to breaking the points record too.

We are on track to break every record, it seems, too

Having already broken the records for most goals in a game, biggest win, and biggest away win, with the 10-1 win against Silsden and the 8-0 The thrashing of Ashington has also put us at the top of the points-per-game table.

The only record that is not in reach is the ‘Step 4 top scorer of all time’ one, which is held by Jason Cowley, who scored 49 in the 2018-19 season.

Hopefully, we see you tomorrow night, but if you can’t make the match, there will be updates on X and radio commentary from The Red. You can learn more about The Red by checking their X profile.

As always, take care, up the Steelmen, and hopefully, the next time I type one of these, it will be as part of a title-winning team!

FIXTURES

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