Having been frustrated in their search for new blood, Matlock joint bosses Phil Brown and Gareth Williams were cheered this week as both skipper James Lukic and striker Simon Barraclough signed new contracts. There may be more good news for Town fans with Matlock being confident that last season's Supporters Player Of The Year and last term's UniBond Division's leading marksman Ian Holmes will be staying at the Geoquip Stadium.
"Simon and James have both signed and negotiations are well down the line
for Ian to sign a new contract as well" said Brown. All three played in the Gladiators' opening pre season friendly at Blue Square North Hucknall Town which ended in a 1-0 defeat, thanks to a late goal from former Welsh international midfielder and Hucknall player manager Andy Legg.

Holmes netted 33 league and cup goals in his debut season at UniBond level and has attracted attention from Alfreton Town, AFC Telford and Marine and was one of three players to join the Gladiators from the Sheffield University side last summer. Fellow students Tom Cahill and Liam Howley have left with Cahill joining Rotherham United and Howley opting to return to his home town of Luton before going travelling next year.Holmes' pace, workrate and skill, together with the ability to score some stunning goals quickly won over the Gladiators fans who could now see more of one of their favourite players. Playing a role wide on the left as he did for the latter part of last season, Holmes again impressed in an encouraging Matlock performance. All that was missing was the final touch in front of goal.

"Ian played very well as did the rest of the lads" said Brown. "It was a very good performance and we were really pleased with the football we played against a side higher up than us in the pyramid. In fact we were the better side. The regular players did us proud but the younger lads that came on did very well also. We deserved to win for we had enough good chances but we were very happy with the way and with the amount of times we carved a good side open".

There were a number of trialists on view at Watnall Road including goalkeeper Martin Taylor who proved he could be an able deputy for first choice stopper Andy Richmond who was on holiday. Another was former Shepshed Dynamo midfielder Jordan Lambert who has impressed in training and had a solid thirty odd minutes in his first appearance in a Matlock shirt.

The trialists are likely to be given a further chance to shine in Saturday's visit to Barton Town Old Boys, along with last weekend's absentees Richmond, Dene Cropper (moving house), Paul Riley (attending a wedding),and Neil Ashley who was on a sponsored charity bike ride.
"Saturday will see us field a mixture but Dene Cropper will definitely play some part. He trained well on Tuesday and will be involved on both Saturday and Monday" Brown confirmed.

Monday sees the visit to the Geoquip Stadium of League Two neighbours
Chesterfield for the Banner Jones Cup, which has gone back to Saltergate in recent seasons. "Its our best game for income but its a good test for us each year and
we've certainly not let ourselves down in the last few years" said Brown.
"It works us hard and its a good test to assess how the pre season is going."

Brown conceded that his search for new blood had so far proved to be fruitless, but he would not give up. He had hoped that a former Football League player who was with a Conference (Blue Square) North club last season would be signing in at the Geoquip Stadium, but the trail now appears to have gone dead.
"The chances of him signing are now slim so we're very disappointed" Brown continued. "We've gone for quite a few players, some have let us down while some have been honest with us. We've gone for quality as we needed to if we were to improve on what we already have. We couldn't live with some of the money that is being thrown about, but we've been close on a number of occasions and just been pipped at the post. But there are others that we're looking at and we probably need a little more cover in defence."

Meanwhile the Matlock footballers will be taking on the Matlock cricketers in a special challenge cricket match at Causeway Lane on Sunday week.
"It'll be a chance for everyone to get together away from the football and it'll be a useful aside from the pre season preparations" said Brown.