Win over Blyth Spartans delights Matlock boss Clayton
Adam Clayton watched his Matlock Town side record a fourth straight win on Saturday and reiterated his desire to keep pushing to the end in their quest for promotion.
The 1-0 success over Blyth Spartans maintained Matlock’s second place in the league but leaders Redcar Athletic again struck a late winner to remain ten points clear at the top.
And Clayton says all he can do is concentrate on what his own side does in the hope that those around them in the promotion hunt slip up.
He said: “I’m genuinely not looking at the table. I can only affect our group and what we’re doing. If we keep winning and other teams slip up, we’ll be there. If they don’t, fair play, so what happens in my dressing room is all I can control and we are doing really well, so long may that continue as our squad is coming together and we are in a really good place with 16 games to play and I’m excited to see where we can get to.”
On Saturday’s win, he said: “I’m very pleased. Blyth are a good side who have recruited heavily in the last couple of months and if they keep that group together they could be looking at the play-offs minimum next season.
"So it was a good win. Again I think we could make it easier on ourselves by being that little bit more clinical in the final third, but I knew this was going to be a really tough game as Blyth had scored eight goals in their last two games, yet we limited them to just a few chances and our keeper’s made a couple of great saves.
"We were probably worth a couple more goals but we’ve got the job done by playing with different formations throughout the game, understanding their roles and jobs and defending brilliantly from set pieces.”
Matlock were denied a third straight home game on Tuesday night when their fixture with Newton Aycliffe was postponed for a third time, this time due to a waterlogged pitch thanks to the effects of Storm Chandra.
A new date is yet to be confirmed for the game which was also postponed in December and earlier this month.
They return to action with a trip to Hallam this weekend, before hitting the road again next Tuesday night with a rearranged game at Bradford (Park Avenue).