Matlock Town host Radcliffe this Tuesday evening at the Proctor Cars Stadium in the Northern Premier League.
The Gladiators will be looking to carry on the encouraging performance shown last weekend against Hyde United to seal a much needed three points and steer further away from the relegation zone.
The Opposition
Radcliffe currently sit mid-table in 12th position in the Northern Premier League. After a bright opening third to the season (particularly at home), the club’s form has deteriorated recently leaving their hopes of a play-off position a very tough task now to achieve. The club has recently gone through some big changes that is clearly taking time to adjust to.
Former Manchester City forward Jon Macken surprised many by stepping down as Radcliffe’s manager on January 17th when the club were in a decent 8th position with some games in hand in their first ever season in the Northern Premier League. Garry Vaughan and Darren Lyons have taken the role of joint interim managers for the remainder of this season.
Radcliffe come into Tuesday night’s game with only one point gained from their last seven matches. In their most recent game last weekend, Radcliffe lost away at Morpeth Town 3-1 in the league. Radcliffe are also the joint second lowest scorers in this season’s Northern Premier League along with Matlock Town.
Radcliffe play at the Neuven Stadium in Greater Manchester. The ground can hold up to 4,000 people and has a seated capacity of 350. They are known as The Boro and the club was founded back in 1949. Their most recent trophy victory came at the end of last season when The Boro won the Northern Premier League Division One play-offs.
One to Watch
Attacking midfielder Matty Wolfenden will be a key opposition player for Matlock fans to watch out for. The 32 year-old started his career in the Football League for his hometown club Oldham Athletic.
Wolfenden made 48 league appearances for the club before moving to Wrexham. He then went on to spend seven years with FC United of Manchester where he was the club’s top goal scorer for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
After that, Wolfenden moved to Stalybridge Celtic where he scored 21 goals in 73 league appearances before then moving to the Boro.
Team News
Matlock’s leading goal scorer Marcus Marshall will miss Tuesday night’s game due to suspension. Jack Rea is still a doubt while he is recovering from his ankle injury.
Paul Phillips is hopeful that new player/assistant manager Brian Wilson will be available for selection for Tuesday night. Wilson missed Matlock’s draw with Hyde due to family reasons.
Previous Meeting
The Gladiators met Radcliffe at the Neuven Stadium earlier this season on October 19th. Matlock lost 1-0 in what was a poor game in front of an attendance of 327.
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