Boss Paul Phillips hails grit and determination after Matlock Town progress in FA Trophy

The Gladiators battled back from 2-0 down at the break to win 4-2 on penalties.

It left Phillips proud of his players for coming through a tough week off the pitch.

“I thought we were the better team for large spells of the game,” he said. “It sounds daft when you are going in 2-0 at the break,but they had two shots and scored them both.

“Teams with less character and desire would probably have folded against a team who are top of the league and unbeaten.

“But we have shown exactly the type of spirit we have in the dressing room.

"We came out and scored goals at the right time. I thought we deserved to win.

“We had 13 lads and three members of staff who have been laid up with COVID.

“We trained for an hour on Saturday with 10 of us and some didn't get out of isolation until Sunday.

“Players have played who don’t have a lot of minutes and some after coming back from long-term injuries.

“I can only praise them, we were on a hiding to nothing and they showed steel.”

Phillips believes the Trophy victory also highlights the improved belief running through the dressing room this season.

“There have been one of two that have not towed the line and that why they left,” he said.

“I learned a lot from the year we struggled at Buxton because we didn thave those type of characters in the dressing room.

“We have a good balance in the dressing room now. You can’t instill desire so you’re always taking a chance when you bring them in.

"There is a buzz about the place with how they are competing.

“The lads are a great credit to the club and themselves. It's a shame that, after all that has been thrown at us over the last six or seven months, that it is coming to this when the tide is starting to change in our favour.

“It is frustrating for us. A lot got thrown at us last year when we were in the bottom three with 16 games to go and people said we were using COVID to get out, so we can’t have it both ways.”