On Saturday, Celtic are back at Bower Fold for our penultimate home match of the year when we host Matlock Town. Matlock are currently third in the table on 40 points, 14 points and eight places above Celtic. Tickets are available online or on the gate. Kick off 3pm.
Matlock’s start to the season was phenomenal. After losing an opening day away match 2-0 at Ashton United, they went on a seven game winning streak, culminating in a 9-0 demolition of Witton Albion.
Stafford Rangers ended that run with a 2-0 win in Staffordshire, before another four-match winning run lifted them to the top of the table.
Since then, they lost away at Atherton (2-1) and at home to South Shields (1-0), Whitby (3-2) and, most recently, Stafford (3-2).
Their most recent away game saw them in a goalless draw with Morpeth. Their last win was a 2-0 away win over Lancaster at the end of October. Though they have won just once in their last five, their away record has seen them win three, draw one and lose once in their last five on the road.
Only two teams have scored more than Matlock so far this season (Buxton and Bamber Bridge) as they have found the net 38 times.
Defensively they are also strong, with only three teams conceding fewer (Buxton, South Shields and Stafford). Alexander Byrne is their main threat, with 7 goals this season, though Liam Hughes is right behind on 6. They score an average of 1.4 goals away (1.9 overall) and concede 0.9 goals per game on the road and a goal per game overall. Away from home, they have kept 5 clean sheets (9 overall) and failed to score 3 times (4 times overall).
Matlock’s last win at Bower Fold was at the start of the 1989/90 season, when they beat us 2-1. Since then, they have visited four times, with Celtic winning all four, most recently in 2018 as they did not visit in either curtailed season.
Celtic’s last win was a 3-1 at the start of the 18/19 season, with goals from Matty Wolfenden, Scott Bakkor and Neil Kengni enough to see off a late charge from the visitors in which Craig Westcarr got a consolation goal. There is only one other visit in the last 30 years, when Celtic won 1-0 at the end of the 88/89 season.
In Matlock’s last match, the 2-3 loss at home to Stafford, Matlock lined up as:
1. Paul Cooper
2. Jamie Sharman
3. Reece Kendall
4. Ioan Evans
5. Ryan Qualter
6. Mark Lees
7. Alexander Byrne
8. Alex Wiles
9. Liam Hughes
10. Jesurun Uchegbulam
11. Liam King
Celtic’s last match was the 1-1 away draw at Basford, in which we lined up as:
1. Will Huffer
2. Josh Dawodu
3. Stephen Brogan
4. Sam Wedgbury
5. Connor O’Grady
6. Keenan Quansah
7. Jake Burton
8. Charley Doyle
9. Scott Bakkor
10. Adam O’Reilly
11. Justin Johnson
A win for Celtic could see us reach 8th in the table, whilst it could also see Matlock drop to 5th. A win for Matlock, however, could see them return to the top of the table.
Despite their loss at Stafford, it was not for want of trying, when they had a tight offside rule out a goal, hit the post and keeper before clearing the bar and had one cleared off the line all in the dying moments.
With the two teams never drawing in the last 30 years, it looks like one of the two teams will end their recent stuttering run.