Sitting 2nd in the league and with one hell of a cup tie upcoming, my Matlock side is meeting my expectations this season. With my work and Ian Selley’s training, the team is gelling very well, and form is one of the best in the league. We started the month of November with the FA Cup 1st round draw, the whole team was in the clubhouse watching BBC seeing 2 former names of the comp, Dean Windass and Lee Hendrie pulling names out.
All of a sudden, the volume went up and everyone leaned forward as Windass pulled out Matlock’s number, an away tie was on the cards, and then everyone cheered Hendrie pulled out League 2 Mansfield Town, Now we have our work cut out for us.
Before we take on Mansfield we have a small matter of Banbury utd away. 68 of our own fans made the trip to see goals from Ngwa x2, Brady from the spot and Tuckey earn a 4-1 away win.
Now the biggest game of the season so far, in front of the BBC cameras, the One Call Stadium is a lovely ground that some of these players could only dream of playing in, and what a start, Mansfield was shocked as Tyreace Palmer scored a 16 min hattrick. 0-3 at the 30-minute mark soon became 4 as Sammie Tuckey tucked home a low shot. Half time 4-0 up I couldn’t ask for anything more from the player, and even tho Hogan pulled one back, the icing on the cake was Latty-Fairweather made it 1-5 to the Glads and a great journey on the bus home.
I called the lads and staff in on the Sunday to watch the draw for the 2nd round, as we watched Matlock Ball come out, it was a home match, then every head turned and all eyes were on me because we drew my hometown of Colchester Utd.
The joys of this league are playing on Tuesday and Saturday, and it was back to action vs Darlington, Alvechurch, and Oxford City. All 3 games, saw goals and victories to keep a hold on 2nd place. Then a break from league action saw an FA trophy game against Scarborough next, but after a 0-0 draw it was straight to a pen-shootout, which went down to sudden death which Barrett spot kick was the winning kick.
After a win against Alfreton, Colchester Utd made the trip up north. The League One side is the bookies’ favorites but fell behind after 3 minutes when Palmer showed his class scoring 2 in the 1st half. Ngwa added a 3rd in the 2nd half and the cheers at the final whistle were loud because we won the match 3-1 and into the 3rd round where the big clubs join’s in. Afterward, we again watched the draw, hoping for a big name , and on the 10th of January 2026, we have a game at home vs Bristol City.
December is a busy time and started with a win at home vs Gloucester but then crashed to a defeat against Nuneaton Boro. After that, we had to get back to winning ways and the game next up was the unbeaten South Shields. Once again we proved how good we are by beating them 1-0 to close the gap at the top of the league.
Back down to earth once again in a thriller at Southport losing 4-3 before 4 games in 9 days, we had to put the work in if we were going to challenge for the top spot. Another win the trophy put us in good spirits for the next 3 league games, against Warrington, Basford Utd, and Brackley, 2 away games and a home game on boxing day. Warrington away win, a narrow 3-2, was a nice early Christmas gift, then at home vs Basford saw a 3-0 win which sent the home fans happy. to finish the year 2025 was an away fixture with Brackley, this match ended in a score draw.
2025 has been a great year for Matlock, with a league title in May and proving all the pundits wrong by sitting 2nd in the league, the fans and the board are happy where the club is going.
IRL chat
I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my blog and supported me throughout the year. I would like to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.
#GladsAllOver
