Focus turns to play-off battle for Matlock
Joint interim-boss Ryan Cresswell says the focus is now firmly set on the play-offs for Matlock Town after they secured a second-place finish in NPL Division One East last weekend.
The 5-0 thumping of Ashington ensured Matlock can’t now be caught in the race for runner-up spot behind champions Redcar Athletic, thus securing a home play-off semi-final on Tuesday, April 28 as well as a home final should they progress.
Two league games remain, starting at Newton Aycliffe on Saturday who will be relegated if they don’t win, with Cresswell now keen to manage the squad accordingly with the play-off games in mind.
He said: “We’ve thought about this scenario, among others, at length over the last couple of weeks and we will now go down the routes befitting this situation in terms of players getting minutes – the subs have come on today and done brilliantly and blown us away which is fantastic to have.
“Everybody’s on the same page. Everyone is buzzing in the dressing room and we just need to take this momentum now into next week and keep the wheels turning. We have to keep focusing on putting in the best performances that we can and hopefully that will be enough.”
Tickets for the home semi-final are now on general sale, with over 1,000 already having been sold by Monday evening and with 90 per cent of season ticket holders having snapped up their tickets during the exclusive 24-hour window which opened on Sunday morning.
The club have also confirmed that whilst segregation for away supporters will not be enforced throughout the whole ground, the ‘Town End’ will be made available to home fans only.
A proportion of tickets have also been held back for supporters of the visiting team, whose identity is yet to be confirmed but is guaranteed to be one of Emley AFC, Pontefract Collieries, Dunston UTS or Bradford (Park Avenue).