Clayton: It was how I want us to be
Adam Clayton says Saturday’s win at Belper Town gave fans an insight as to how he wants his Matlock Town side to play as the Gladiators ran out convincing 4-1 winners.
The first-half in particular saw Matlock produce some eye-catching attacking football that saw them dominate proceedings, with experienced striker Conor Washington netting goals in each half along with goals from Jeremie Milambo and 17-year-old academy product Sam Giles.
And Clayton says he is hoping that will be a sign of things to come as the season edges nearer.
He said: “For about 65 minutes of the game we showed who we’re going to be, who we want to be, how we want to play and how we want to approach and attack a game.
"I think we’ve seen glimpses in games up to now, we did so at Basford but not enough, so today was really pleasing and I got the professional, clean performance I wanted.
"Teams that will come up against us will always want to have a go and you have to respect that certain types of football we’ll come up against can be effective, but not many teams will come to Belper and do that to them over the course of the season so it was really pleasing.”
Matlock were then back in action on Tuesday night when they hosted Mansfield Town, after this week’s Mercury had gone to press.
There is no friendly currently scheduled for the weekend and the new NPL Division One East season will then get under way on Saturday, August 9 with the visit of Bradford (Park Avenue).
Another addition was made to Matlock’s squad prior to the Belper game with the arrival of the versatile Declan Eratt-Thompson, who has spent recent seasons with Ilkeston Town and who is comfortable in both defence and midfield as well as in wide positions.
Clayton added: “Dec is willing to run and willing to work and has got the quality.
"We’ve had an issue at right-back with injuries so we’ve had to act quickly in the best interests of the football club,
"We’ve got another really good player in the building and a really good character.”