Cresswell hails Matlock players after fightback
Ryan Cresswell was beaming with pride after his Matlock Town side came back to beat Bamber Bridge on Saturday.
Matlock were 2-1 down at half-time and had seen goalkeeper Rogan Ravenhill sent off, but recovered to win 3-2 and take three points.
And Cresswell said it was one of the highlights of his managerial career so far.
He said: “I’d say it was the most satisfying win I’ve had since I’ve been a manager.
"Going down to ten men so early in the game, we had to get to half-time to regroup, which meant sitting off them a bit which was as frustrating for me as it was for the fans.
"And we regrouped, got them going in a shape we thought would cause them problems, and set out to try and play for set pieces and find that little bit of magic, and the lads pulled it off.
"It was a proper graft, which it needed to be, so that if it goes wrong nobody can complain about your efforts.
"To a man, they ran themselves into the ground and it shows the levels these players have got. Bamber Bridge are a good side, the moved the ball and passed it really well and asked us questions, but we put more bodies in a defensive area and made a real effort to stay high up the pitch, because if you sink and you drop, you’re asking for trouble.
"But everybody did their job superbly in the second-half and got us the win.”
Attention now turns to a long trip to Blyth Spartans this weekend, a side with new ownership and a new manager as they aim to climb off the bottom of the table – Matlock themselves still in the bottom four, albeit on goal difference and on the same number of points as three teams above them.
Matlock recalled Benni Ndlovu from his loan at Sheffield FC due to several injuries and suspensions within the squad, while a goalkeeper may arrive on loan this week to cover for Ravenhill who will serve a three-game ban.
Cresswell said: “A couple of the suspensions were dropped on us late [they were related to incidents at the players’ former clubs] so Benni came back in and I’d have liked him to get minutes against Bamber Bridge but I didn’t want to disturb the rhythm we were in, so we need the week off and to get bodies back.”