Having had probably the toughest of starts of all of the UniBond League Premier Division clubs, there is no respite for Matlock Town as their FA Cup trail begins on Saturday afternoon.
Local rivals Ilkeston Town lie in wait at their New Manor Ground headquarters and under their newly appointed manager David Holdsworth, they have been one of the surprise packets of the season so far, currently sharing the leadership oif the division with another club who have exceeded expectations so far, Ashton United.
For their part, Matlock lay in 17th spot before their scheduled clash last night against Worksop Town at Hucknall, ten points behind the Robins, having collected six points from the same number of games, but a quick look at the opposition faced to date has seen them come up against the much fancied FC United of Manchester as well as face three out of the current leading four clubs in Ashton United, Bradford Park Avenue and Guiseley, plus big spending ninth placed side Eastwood Town.
The cup draw is probably one that neither side wanted at this early stage of the competition as a good FA Cup run brings in much needed finance and also prestige.
"Ilkeston have made a really good start. A new manager has come in and he's got a decent budget bringing in a lot of new players and rejigged the squad" said Gladiators joint boss Phil Brown, who along with fellow joint boss Gareth Williams saw the chance of watching Ilkeston in action on Tuesday night dashed when their home game with Boston United was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
"But we saw them during the pre season and have a fair idea of how they play. They've got some major threats and are capable of turning defence into attack very quickly."
But the managers and the Matlock supporters will take encouragement from displays such as the 1-1 draws at Guiseley and at home to Eastwood, which could so easily have yielded victories instead.
"The Cup's important considering the money involved and the prestige a good run can bring to a club like ours. The draw's not ideal for us as you generally expect a tie such as this in a round or two later than the 1st qualifying round but you want who you get and Ilkeston will probably be thinking the same things about the draw as us. However I think we can go there with confidence particularly if we play like we did against Guiseley and Eastwood. While we respect each team in this league, really we shouldn't fear anyone."
After the excellent display against Eastwood when Matlock were denied what would have been a great win by Marc Smith's 89th minute leveller for the outplayed Badgers, there was disappointment in the Gladiators camp when last weekend's scheduled visit of foot of the table Prescot Cables was called off with the Causeway Lane pitch under water after incessant heavy rainfall.
"We believe we should have more points to show for our efforts in any case" Brown continued. "It would have been nice to carry on the Eastwood performance against Prescot and while nothing's guaranteed in football we were very confident of picking up the three points at the weekend. We've probably had the hardest start of anyone in our league with three or four outstanding performances and we've more than held our own which is a positive thing."
Two departures from Causeway Lane this week have seen defender Cameron Fearon join Ilkeston while midfielder Reuben Wiggins-Thomas has moved up the A6 to Buxton.
Fearon joined the Gladiators initially on loan from Chesterfield last December before making the move a permanent one during the summer. Wiggins-Thomas was also once with the Spireites before moving to Bradford Park Avenue, Hucknall Town and latterly Eastwood Town before moving to Causeway Lane from Coronation Park last February. Both players have struggled to make an impact this season with Fearon being so far being unable to displace Ryan Davis, Ashley Foyle, Ryan Laight and Lee Featherstone in defence with Liam King also being preferred ahead of him in the opening two or three games. Competition in the midfield and forward positions is more fierce following the acquisitions of former Chesterfield winger Jamie Jackson and Belper striker Ross Hannah, with Dene Cropper also back in the fold after two injury stricken seasons.
Cropper took a hefty blow after a challenge by Eastwood defender Mark Hume last week but he was expected to be fit for last night's clash with Worksop and although Jackson was more of a doubt, he too should have been fit enough for a return.
Should Saturday's tie at Ilkeston end in a draw, the replay will be at Causeway Lane on Tuesday night with a 7-45 pm kick off.
The Causeway Lane ground has recovered well since being flooded at the weekend. In spite of the improved drainage, the rain was so intense that lakes appeared on both the football and cricket pitches and water flushed through into the boardroom and offices as well as flooding the driveway from the main entrance towards the Dene Fields side of the ground.
