Matlock boss Paul Phillips rues wastefulness at Stafford

In something of a contrast to the 9-0 win over Witton Albion just four days earlier, Matlock were wasteful in front of goal and punished by goals either side of half-time.

And Phillips was disappointed to see his side’s winning run end.

He said: “We could have been two or three up if we’d taken our chances, then got done by a sucker punch before half-time.

"Stafford set up to play for a point which they’d have been happy with. Their keeper time wasted from minute one and the lad taking their long throws took as long as he could each time too.

"We huffed and puffed but couldn’t get into a flow – the pitch was a disgrace too considering we’re only a month into the season so that didn’t help.”

Matlock now prepare to head to Bamber Bridge on Saturday and then Radcliffe next Tuesday, with Phillips keen to start another unbeaten run.

He said: “We’ve shown what we can do, now I want to see if we can do it again.

"Bamber Bridge have a good side but we’ll go there full of confidence.

"Having a week without a game has helped in terms of getting some players back from injury but we lost some at Stafford too and Jamie Sharman will be missing for a while due to an incident outside football.

"So we may have to look to bring new faces in again – we've had some bad luck with injuries, including with some loanees, so hopefully we can avoid that curse again.”