With the finishing line so close, Matlock manager Mark Atkins wants his side to sprint over it to banish any lingering relegation worries for good when they entertain ninth placed Ashton United in their final league game of the season on Saturday.
Ashton's visit is also a landmark for the Gladiators with it being their 1700th game in the UniBond (Northern Premier) League and it gives them the opportunity to finish their league campaign on a high with a third successive league victory, so they can approach Tuesday night's Derbyshire Senior Cup Final against Buxton at Pride Park in buoyant mood.
"There's one result to get and we want to continue our good run. We'll be going for the three points not the one and those two wins we've just had should fill us with confidence going into the game" said Atkins.
Matlock looked to be one of the favourites for relegation in the early part of 2009 when they hit the bottom of the league. But mid table form this calendar year has seen them collect twenty five points out of a possible forty eight to ease themselves out of the relegation places, their cause being helped further on and off the pitch since the weekend.
On the field on Tuesday, Boston's 5-0 thrashing at Nantwich saw the Gladiators go above the Pilgrims on goal difference. Then last night (Wednesday), all eyes were on the Turnbull Grund where Whitby hosted Witton Albion with Matlock hoping either for a draw or a Whitby victory.
With Prescot Cables already down before last weekend, Matlock ensured Leigh Genesis joined them with a 2-0 victory at the Leigh Sports Village on Saturday. Later that night news emerged that Cammell Laird would also be relegated, even if they finished out of the bottom four, due to ground grading issues. But the Birkenhead club say they are to lodge an appeal against the ruling, so whoever finishes fourth bottom will have a nervous wait until May when the appeal is heard.
But Atkins is adamant that he wants Matlock to end their season on a high with a victory and then other results and the Cammell Laird affair will be of no consequence to them.
The Town boss acknowledges that Ashton, a surprise packet earlier in the campaign when they led the table, will provide the Gladiators with a tough final test. Equally he says that Matlock's recent form and results have on the whole been encouraging.
"Ashton are a very good hard working side with a good team ethic and who play to a formation where everyone seems to know what they're doing so it'll be a tough game for us" he warned. "But as I've said before we've got to focus on ourselves. We've been very good at home generally recently and actually over the last six or seven weeks there's only been the two Buxton games where the result and the performance has been bad. In that time we've got what we've deserved and we want to carry on our recent good form. When I looked at the final few fixtures, I always believed we could get something from the last three games. We've had two good wins, let's go on and make it three!"
Atkins though admitted that he needed to remind his players how tough the Leigh game would be after training last Thursday and prior to kick off on Saturday.
"To be honest we hadn't had the best training session leading up to the game as some of them looked as if they only had to turn up and we'd win the game. There were some harsh words from me after training and we sat them down and stressed what a difficult game it could be before kick off. Full credit to them though. While it wasn't the best we'd played over recent weeks, they did what they had to. They were on a hiding to nothing, particularly after Buxton's 7-0 win against Leigh in the previous match. They went about things in the right way although I sensed a lot of nervous energy in that no-one wanted to make a mistake that would cost us."
Goals from leading scorer Ross Hannah, his 20th of the season and Danny Wood gave Town their first back to back league victories and their first league double of the season following a 5-0 home win against Genesis in January.
Whatever the scoreline at Whitby on Wednesday, both the North Yorkshire side and Albion still have tough final games and an inferior goal difference to Matlock to overcome. Whitby are at home to an Ilkeston side needing a win to stand a chance of pipping Eastwood to the UniBond Premiership title. Witton are also at home but play off candidates Guiseley are their opponents. Boston and Cammell Laird play each other in Lincolnshire. And if all Saturday's results go Matlock's way, the Gladiators could finish as high as 13th, although it would take a heavy Buxton defeat at Kendal coupled with a handsome Matlock victory for this to happen.
With the league business out of the way for another season, Matlock will then be concentrating on bringing the Derbyshire Senior Cup back to Causeway Lane for the first time in five years. Although Atkins will be without the cup tied duo of Danny Davidson and Adam Yates, he says that people will be playing for their Cup Final place against Ashton. And Matlock will have to perform a lot better on Tuesday than in the recent two legue games against the Bucks who completed a comfortable league double over the Gladiators with a 2-0 win at Causeway Lane followed by an emphatic 4-1 verdict at the Silverlands. Matlock though did knock Buxton out of the UniBond League Challenge Cup with a 3-2 extra time away success in January.
"We've got the Derbyshire Senior Cup Final to look forward to but people will need to play well enough on Saturday to play in the Cup Final at Pride Park. Buxton will go into the game as favourites. They've outplayed us in the two league games, so it'll be a case of the players wanting to put things right and I'll be expecting a much better performance on Tuesday night. It'll be a game when hopefully there'll be less pressure than a league game. There's been pressure in just about every game since I came to the club. It'll be nice if we're safe and then we can go into the game and enjoy it, but we'll still be wanting to win."
Both sets of fans will be housed in the West Stand at Pride Park where there should be ample parking. Admission is set at £8 for adults, £5 concessions and with the Derbyshire Football Association wanting to attract as many children to the game as they can, youngsters will be charged just £2.
Atkins will be lacing his boots once again to star in a fundraising game for a Matlock Town Allstars X1 against Roger Davies' Derby County Veterans side at Causeway Lane on Sunday afternoon (3 pm) in aid of the Gladiators' New Stand Appeal.
"Er yes I'm looking forward to it" he joked. "While I'm not as fit as I used to be it'll be nice to play again. In fact I'll be involved in three charity games over the summer and in the Masters tournament on Sky TV. It's good that fans are paying to play in the game so hopefully we'll raise some good money for the Stand Appeal."
Included in the Matlock side should be ex Gladiators John Sheppard, Everton Marsh, Phil Greaves, Craig Thompson, Wayne Biggins and Stuart Franklin along with Atkins and current goalkeeping coach Nick Buxton, once of Doncaster Rovers.
The fans' Sponsored Walk to Buxton on Good Friday is expected to bring in approximately £2500 for the Appeal.
