After picking up the first three points of the season on Saturday, Celtic travel to Matlock Town on Tuesday. Kick off 7:45pm. After winning their opening game, Matlock have lost their last two, putting them level with Celtic.

Matlock beat Whitby on the opening day in Matlock, 1-0, but lost both of their away games with a 1-0 away at Radcliffe, then 2-0 at Morpeth. Last season, they finished fourth after a cracking start to the season saw them lose two and win eleven of their opening thirteen games, entrenching them firmly in top spot by the end of September. Despite a rocky October, with two losses and three wins, it was November that saw them drop off the top, without a win. Although they regained it in December with five wins and a draw taking them into 2022, their run in might have cost them a top five finish, with just three wins from February onwards. Though they lost five, eight draws put them into the play-offs, which they lost in the first round to Scarborough. Notable points in the season was the league’s highest ever win margin, when they beat Witton Albion 9-0.

Last season’s top scorers were Liam Hughes and Alex Byrne, both of whom grabbed ten goals each. Between them, they got a third of Matlock’s 59 goals (31 at home) and a third of their 28 away goals. On average they scored at a rate of 1.5 goals at home from 1.4 overall, failing to score in eight home matches (19 overall). They had the best defence in the league last season, conceding 15 goals at home from 36 overall at a rate of 0.9 goals per game, with a meagre 0.7 goals per game at home, keeping 19 clean sheets, 10 at home and holding the league record of 5 consecutive shut-outs.

Celtic’s last win over Matlock was in the first curtailed season, when we beat them 1-0 in Matlock, with Anthony Whitehead Celtic’s scorer. Over the past 30 years, we’ve visited Matlock 9 times, winning 3 and losing 6. Our last visit there at the start of the 21/22 season saw Matlock win 2-1 with Scott Bakkor’s penalty giving Celtic the lead, only for two goals in six minutes from Alex Byrne at the start of the second half costing Celtic the points. Matlock also won the reverse fixture in December 2-0.

Matlock’s last match, the 2-0 away defeat by Morpeth Town, saw Matlock line up as:
1. Jim Pollard
2. Jamie Sharman
3. Callum Chippendale
4. Ioan Evans
5. Ryan Qualter
6. Mark Lees
7. Alex Byrne
8. Alex Wiles
9. Jake Day
10. Jorome Slew
11. Jordan Barnett

In Celtic’s last match, the 1-0 home win over Lancaster City, Celtic lined up as:
1. Greg Hall
2. Ciaran Summers
3. Ben Woods
4. Kyle Harrison
5. Dahrius Waldron
6. Tom Miller
7. Aaron Grewal
8. Ethan Padden
9. Raul Correia
10. Godwin Abadaki
11. Osebi Abadaki

Hopefully Celtic can kick off from our result on Saturday and get our first away point of the season.