Gladiators joint boss Gareth Williams was left purring with delight at his depleted side's second half performance in the 3-0 local derby win over Worksop Town at the Geoquip Stadium on Tuesday night.
"That's probably the best forty five minutes from a Matlock Town side in terms of heart and commitment since me and Brownie (Phil Brown) have been here" was his assessment of a display which saw the sides turn round for the second half at 0-0 just after the dismissal of Matlock central defender Glenn Kirkwood.

Matlock were already down to the bare bones following the recent departures of last season's leading scorer Ian Holmes to Mansfield Town and winger Mark Smith to Belper Town. Work commitments ruled out midfielder Steve Circuit, suspension accounted for striker Laurence Hall and left sided midfielder Paul Riley was injured. Add in that both strikers Simon Barraclough and Steve Taylor were not fully fit, the management duo had every right to be over the moon with the result and the performance.So just what was said in one of Williams and Brown's most inspirational half time team talks?
"We didn't get it right in the first half" admitted Williams. "It was obvious that we had to keep the ball in the second half in order that we didn't get punished. But as you saw we went on to dominate that second half and created numerous chances, putting three away.

When we went one up we sensed that the Worksop lads' heads had dropped and we looked head and shoulders fitter and sharper than them. Dave McNicholas came on and like the rest of the defenders was absolutely magnificent at the back. We didn't look like conceding which was good for us as it was our first clean sheet of the season. Andy Richmond only really had basically crosses to deal with. Then in attack Stevie Taylor's come in tonight and has done an absolutely tremendous job, and has worked his socks off just as Simon Barraclough has done weighing in with two goals. We'd got hold of the midfield and thoroughly deserved all three points."

The Worksop victory came hard on the heels of Saturday's 2-1 win at Prescot Cables.
Just twenty four hours before the visit to Merseyside, the Gladiators had sold star striker Ian Holmes to Mansfield Town for an undisclosed, but what is to be believed, a healthy initial fee with sell on and performance enhancing clauses also part of the deal.
"We flattered to deceive at times on Saturday but deserved the win in the end as we created some good chances after initially making it hard for ourselves" said Williams who believes there is more to come from the Gladiators yet in spite of a very acceptable return of twelve points from the opening five matches and a current third position in the UniBond League Premier Division table.

"We're still finding our feet yet, we're not quite on top of things, but everyone knows what we want from them and the match fitness is there. The one blot on our copybook is the Stamford result but I think we've got it out of our system and in all honesty, every team will have one bad game once in a while. In fact the lads came up to me and Brownie and apologised for their performance at Stamford which is first class. They knew it wasn't acceptable and they've worked hard, determined to put it right. But we've got some hard games coming u . We've made a good start but we must crack on from this and continue working hard."

On Holmes' move to the Stags Williams said "We're sorry to see him go but we're also absolutely delighted for the lad. You get what you deserve and thirty odd goals and some smashing performances for us has done it for him. We wish him all the best. He goes with our thanks and Ian himself has thanked everyone here at the club and has rung to wish us all the best.

We're very happy with the deal and hope he goes on to better things which will of course benefit Matlock Town." Holmes came on as a substitute in the 4-2 home win against Stockport County, playing in a midfield role. Then on Tuesday night he was due to make his full debut in the 1-0 home Johnstones Paint Trophy defeat to Rotherham United (minus the injured ex Gladiator and close friend of Holmes, fellow ex Sheffield University student Tom Cahill).

With the Gladiators squad being short on numbers, having lost six of the squad which qualified for last season's UniBond Premier Division play offs, it begs the question of when replacements will be in at the Geoquip Stadium.
"We're looking for a left sider, a forward and a centre half and we hope to have some news on one if not two of these by the end of the week" said Williams.

Matlock will be hoping for another victory when struggling North Ferriby United visit the Geoquip Stadium on Saturday before they travel to second placed Witton Albion on Tuesday night.Circuit is available once more to face Ferriby who Matlock twice beat 2-0 last season. Paul Riley's medial ligament injury is improving but he is rated as extremely doubtful. Tuesday's visit to Witton will be their fourth visit to Wincham Park in 2007 and the Gladiators are still waiting to taste victory. Witton beat them 1-0 in the league with a late goal at the end of March before inflicting another defeat, this time 4-2 after extra time in the play off semi final in May. In between Matlock took on Fleetwood Town in the UniBond League Challenge Cup Final there and lost 1-0.

"North Ferriby have made a bad start but we've got to put that out of our minds, be committed and once again have fire in our bellies" said Williams.
"Its a game when we have something to lose and its completely different from playing in a match where you're not expected to get anything, so we have to ensure we get the points in the bag on Saturday, plus a decent performance so we can face a testing programme with confidence."

Matlock's FA Cup First Qualifying Round opponents will be Carlton Town who beat Pilkington XXX 2-1 in their Preliminary Round tie last weekend. The game will be played at the UniBond First Division South' club's ground on Saturday September 15. Matlock will probably have bitter sweet feelings regarding Holmfirth official Jason Tyas who took charge of the Worksop clash and sent off Kirkwood. Last season he refereed the home meeting with Frickley Athletic and with the game goalless shortly after the interval, he sent off Kris Bowler, now at Alfreton Town. That night Matlock went on to win 3-0 and ironically did the same against Worksop this time round.