MATLOCK TOWN: 2022/23 SEASON PREVIEW

Matlock Town reached the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-offs last season following a fourth place finish. However, dreams of securing promotion to the National League North were dashed after the Gladiators were defeated 2-1 away at eventual play-off winners Scarborough Athletic in a one-legged affair. The Gladiators enjoyed an excellent start to the season and found themselves at the top of the league for various stretches of the season up until early February. There was a real feeling for many of the Matlock fan base that the Gladiators were finally going to escape the Northern Premier League after being a member of the NPL since its inception in 1968. However, from February onwards, the goal scoring completely dried up and Matlock's title challenge suddenly turned into a quest to hang on for a play-offs spot. Thanks to an outstanding defence and reliable goalkeeping, the Derbyshire outfit clawed just enough points in the final third of the season to secure their first play-offs finish in 15 years on the final day of the regular league season campaign. While the 2021/22 campaign was undoubtedly the best season the Gladiators had experienced in years following a very stale period of mediocrity, manager Paul Phillips was heartbroken that his side had not secured promotion and said after the play-offs defeat in Scarborough that his squad hadn't achieved anything. For the gaffer and the rest of the coaching staff at Matlock, success is only when a trophy has been lifted. It's this attitude that has made Matlock Town a force to be reckoned with again in this division that seems to get more competitive as each season passes. The big question down by the Riber on the hill is this: have Matlock now sorted out their goalscoring problem? There's no question that the lack of clinical finishing in the final third of the season prevented the Gladiators from securing promotion. at the end of April. So, has this issue been fixed over the course of this summer and has Phillips been able to hang onto his best players in every other department on the pitch so that the Gladiators have a chance at staying at the top of the ladder this time around? Let's take a look: Goalkeeping Sadly, but inevitably, on-loan goalkeeper Joe Young returned to his parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of the 2021/22 campaign. While Joe will certainly be missed, Matlock have reinforced strongly in between the sticks. Matlock's new first-choice goalkeeper is Jim Pollard who played for Grantham Town last season in the NPL Premier Division. Pollard's distribution and communication skills are exactly what Paul Phillips wants in his goalkeepers aside from the obvious other attributes. Sam Ogden has been brought in as the second-choice goalkeeper following the departure of Paul Cooper in the summer. Defence This was certainly Matlock's strongest area of the pitch last season. It was imperative that Matlock Town retained the services of centre-halves Ryan Qualter and the underrated Ioan Evans. Thankfully, both have stayed at Causeway Lane and will be vital to Matlock's chances of another promotion bid. With the departure of Liam Hughes to Worksop Town, Qualter is also now the new Gladiators captain which was a very popular decision with the Matlock fan base. Another huge plus over the summer was the retention of Reece Kendall who had a fantastic 2021/22 campaign. Former Chesterfield defender Jamie Sharman has also remained with the club alongside Adam Blakeley and Liam Bell. Full-backs Joseph Ferguson and Sean Higgins have been signed over the summer and both have impressed in pre-season and look to be smart additions. The experienced Nico DeGirolamo was recently signed too and he returns for a second stint with the Gladiators.

Midfield Several midfielders have departed Matlock Town over the course of this summer. Terry Hawkridge has joined Worksop Town, Benito Lowe's stay was sadly short-lived as he moved up to the National League North with Curzon Ashton, Marcus Marshall joined Mickleover, Liam King announced his retirement from semi-professional football and Luke Daly has recently bid farewell to Causeway Lane. The biggest departure though was undoubtedly Jesurun Uchegbulam. It is believed that Uchegbulam is the first player to join neighbours Chesterfield permanently from Matlock Town since the 1890's. The sale of Uchegbulam (for an undisclosed fee) is undoubtedly a big blow to Paul Phillips's plans. It goes without saying though, that the transfer is an enormous opportunity for the Nigerian player and it will be fascinating to see how he gets on at the Spireites this season. Despite the loss of many players in the engine room, four key retentions have been made in midfield: assist extraordinaire Alex Byrne, Alex Wiles, Callum Chippendale and the ever-reliable Mark Lees. Lees won the manager's player of the season at the end of the 2021/22 campaign while Alex Byrne's contributions were incredibly important to securing a top five place. Chippendale and Wiles are both very talented midfielders but Paul Phillips will be eager to see more goals from the pair of them this time around. Over the summer, Phillips has added Leigh Whelan, Simon Lenighan and Nigerian teenager Remi Efunnuga to this department. The key midfield signing for me though is undoubtedly Jordan Barnett. The 22 year-old left-sided midfielder made over 40 appearances last season for Yeovil Town in the National League. The capture of Barnett is a real statement of intent from the gaffer and I think this signing also helps to alleviate some of the pressure to assist and create from Alex Byrne. For me, Jordan Barnett is my key player to look out for in Matlock colours this coming season. Attack Ross Hannah, Reece Webb-Foster and Osebi Abadaki have all departed the Gladiators over the course of this summer. The most surprising departure from the forward line was last season's skipper Liam Hughes. Hughes has stepped down a tier to play for Worksop Town and it surprised me greatly to hear that he had left Matlock. With Hughes being such an influential figure, where does this leave Matlock's forward line for the 2022/23 campaign? The answer is a brand new look with all of Matlock's forwards for this coming season being signed over the summer and pre-season. Aaron Opoku has joined from Carlton Town, Kallan Murphy looks to be a very interesting acquisition from local rivals Chesterfield and Reon Potts has signed for the club after a few games as a trialist during pre-season. Matlock's top goalscorer over pre-season was Jake Day, who many consider to be a like-for-like replacement for Liam Hughes. Day's strengths are obvious to see: an imposing physical presence and a constant aerial threat. A lot will be relied upon Jake Day over the next few months and it's hoped that his promotion success with Scarborough Athletic last season will be transferred over to Matlock Town this time around. It certainly helps that Day comes into the opening day of the campaign with an impressive pre-season spell under his belt. The most significant forward signing for me though is Jorome Slew. The former Hampton & Richmond Borough, AFC Fylde and Sheffield United academy player could be the holy grail that Phillips has been looking for for a long while. Slew is pacey and has experience of scoring 30 plus goals over a season. If Slew can get off to a good start and feed off the likes of Jake Day's aerial prowess as well as the crosses from Byrne and Barnett, then the Gladiators could be into a seriously good thing.

Pre-Season It's fair to say that it was a challenging pre-season campaign for Matlock. Two games had to be cancelled altogether: the away trip to Macclesfield didn't go ahead due to an unprecedented extreme heat weather warning while the short away trip to local rivals Alfreton Town was cancelled as the Gladiators didn't have enough players available to field a full team due to a mixture of injuries and holidays. Overall, from the eight pre-season games played, the Gladiators won two, drew three and lost three. While this pre-season campaign certainly wasn't as strong as last season's (eight wins from nine games), I wouldn't be particularly worried by the results. It's worth bearing in mind that the three defeats came against higher-tier opposition and that Matlock still haven't played a game yet with this current squad where everyone was available to play. The final game, a 0-0 bore draw at Carlton Town, can be practically written off as the game was played on an incredibly hard pitch and the real victory was that nobody picked up an injury on either side. With only five goals scored overall from these eight games, people have questioned whether the problems in the final third will drag on into the 2022/23 campaign, but I think this will pick up once the serious stuff starts and everyone is finally available to play. Final Thoughts There's no question what the club's aim is for the 2022/23 season: promotion. Simple as that. Anything less than that will not be considered a successful season from Paul Phillips and his backroom staff. Personally, I'm confident that Matlock Town will finish in the top five again in the NPL Premier Division. Jordan Barnett is an inspired signing in my opinion and I think he will create plenty as will Alex Byrne once again. The defence is solid as a rock and I certainly don't have any worries there. Jim Pollard has already shown that he is a talented and reliable goalkeeper. What will be fascinating to see is how the forwards perform? If they don't deliver (like in the final third of last season), then promotion simply won't happen. There will be a lot of pressure on the likes of Jorome Slew and Jake Day in particular but I'm confident they can thrive on this and deliver with the service that they will receive from the midfield and full-backs. The club, overall, is in the best place it has been for some time: growing crowds, a stronger community and a more inclusive club with the decision to have Matlock Town Ladies also play all their home games at The Proctor Cars Stadium for this coming season. On the pitch, Matlock Town have improved drastically since Paul Phillips took over as manager in January 2020. Has the single missing piece of the jigsaw been discovered to secure promotion this time around? We're about to find out.