Mansfield Town aim to keep winning pre-season form going as they travel to Derbyshire to face Matlock Town

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The Amber and Blues got their pre-season underway with a fantastic win against Retford United, but Nigel Clough will be wanting his Stags side to replicate that against the Gladiators at The Proctor Cars Stadium.

Mansfield Town showed their class and quality at Cannon Park on Tuesday evening as they brushed aside Retford United.

Many players impressed but not as much as new signings Oli Hawkins and Danny Johnson as the duo were able to score three goals between them.

Hawkins, who signed for the Stags from Ipswich Town, opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a touch and shot which ended up in the top left-hand corner of the net from 25 yards out.

His strike partner, Johnson, bagged two as his poacher’s instincts were on display which saw him bag a brace before he was substituted on the hour-mark.

Stephen Quinn and youngsters Tyrese Sinclair, Jimmy Knowles and Nathan Caine were also amongst the goals which just showed how much quality Nigel Clough has at his disposal.

The hosts for this encounter, Matlock Town, have already played three games during this pre-season and they have been impressive up to this point.

Wirksworth Ivanhoe were the first team to face the Gladiators at The Proctor Cars Stadium as the two faced off for the Centenary Cup.

Matlock would make light work of their opponents as they smashed Wirksworth 9-0 as they went onto win a trophy and start their pre-season in the best way possible.

National League North’s Boston United would be the next opponents with this game going right down to the wire and a 90th-minute winner sealing the win for the Gladiators.

The Pilgrims were up twice throughout the 90 minutes but the resilience of Matlock Town shone through as they ran out as 3-2 winners to secure a second win in pre-season.

Matlock’s final pre-season game to date came against Derby County’s under-23 side on Tuesday evening at The Proctor Cars Stadium.

The hosts found themselves 1-0 down after five minutes but found a way back to win 2-1 against the Young Rams and to secure their third win of pre-season having conceded only three goals and scoring a total of 14.

Mansfield Town will find this as a step up in opponents with the Gladiators in the seventh tier of English football compared to Retford United’s 11th tier status.

Nigel Clough has also confirmed that he will be taking a full-strength squad to The Proctor Cars Stadium on Friday evening as he continues to test out strategy, formation and his new recruits.

Matlock Town will be all up for this encounter as they will want to continue their winning pre-season run going, but the sheer class of the opposition may be too much for the Gladiators this time around.

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