Warrington Town vs Matlock Town play-off information

Mark Beesley’s men face Matlock Town at Cantilever Park on tonight, kick off 7.45pm in a straight knockout match to keep their hopes of promotion to the National League North alive.

Here is a full guide to what will happen – and what could happen – in the coming days...

How did we get to this point?

Town finished the regular season in second place – their highest ever league position – on 77 points, eight behind runaway NPL Premier Division champions South Shields.

They were already assured of a play-off spot before the final game of the season along with Bamber Bridge and Gainsborough Trinity, but Matlock emerged from a three-way fight with Hyde United and Radcliffe to claim the final place.

The Gladiators’ 1-0 win at Marine – their fifth in the last six games – coupled with Hyde’s 3-1 loss at Cantilever Park and a 2-1 defeat for Radcliffe at Nantwich Town allowed them to snatch a play-off spot.

> Yellows boss Mark Beesley calls upon his players to 'play the game and not the occasion'

Jay Harris scores for Town during a 3-1 win over Matlock at Cantilever Park in October (Image: Sean Walsh)

How do the Northern Premier League play-offs work?

The play-offs operate in a “2v5, 3v4” format with both fixtures being played tonight, with the highest finishers rewarded with home advantage.

At the same time as Town and Matlock are facing off at Cantilever Park, Bamber Bridge will be hosting Gainsborough Trinity at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium.

Semi-final ties are one-legged, straight knockout affairs, with extra time and penalties in play if a winner cannot be found in 90 minutes.

The two winners will progress to the play-off final, which takes place on Bank Holiday Monday, May 1, at the home ground of the highest-placed finalist. This means if Yellows progress through this evening's tie, the final will be played at Cantilever Park.

The winner of the final will earn the last remaining spot in the National League North for the 2023-24 season.

Will this finally be Warrington Town’s year?

Followers of Warrington Town – both committed and casual – will know the past two completed seasons have seen them come agonisingly close to promotion only to fall at the final hurdle.

Last season, they reached the play-off final after memorably beating South Shields on penalties away from home, only to lose 2-1 to Scarborough Athletic in the final showdown.

The 2018-19 campaign also saw them fall victim to a one-off ‘super play-off’ as the FA sought to restructure its National League System.

They won the NPL play-offs after another iconic victory at South Shields but were pitted in a one-off clash with Southern League Central play-off champions King’s Lynn Town at Cantilever Park – a game they lost 3-2 after extra time.

This year, however, hopes are high among supporters that this will finally be their year having lost just once in 24 matches leading into the play-offs.

Town's Jordan Buckley thanks fans after last season's play-off final loss to Scarborough Athletic (Image: Karl Vallantine)

Are there any injury concerns for Warrington Town?

The most obvious concerns within the Town squad centre around defender Evan Gumbs and midfielder Jay Harris.

Centre-half Gumbs, who has won both the players’ and supporters’ player of the season awards having built a superb partnership with the experienced Tom Hannigan, was left out of Saturday’s win over Hyde United to rest a knee injury.

It is understood Town are confident Gumbs will be fit to face Matlock but should he not make it, Mitch Duggan is likely to deputise once again as he did against Hyde.

Harris was substituted with a thigh injury during the second half on Saturday and is being continually assessed.

Town will hope to have Evan Gumbs fit for Tuesday's game (Image: Sean Walsh)

How big a threat are Matlock Town?

In the past six games, no team in the division has shown better form than the Gladiators.

They have won five and drawn one in that time to resurrect a season that had been in danger of petering out and said run allowed them to sneak into the shake-up as this season’s “bolters” – a team that charges through the pack following some strong end-of-season form.

Since former Basford United and Ilkeston Town manager Martin Carruthers took over the team in mid-December, the Derbyshire side have won 10, drawn seven and lost five of their 22 league matches.

Town took four points from a possible six in the two league fixtures against Matlock this season, including a 3-1 win at Cantilever Park back in October thanks to goals from Stefan Mols, Jay Harris and Connor Woods.

February’s reverse fixture in Derbyshire saw the sides play out a goalless draw.

> Here's what Matlock boss Martin Carruthers has had to say about the game

Manager @Gandiman9 knows his team goes into tomorrow’s game as the underdogs, but he has full belief in his squad to write their names in history. pic.twitter.com/4hhlgImuLT

— 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗙𝗖 | Est 1878 (@Matlock_TownFC) April 24, 2023

How can I get tickets for the game?

After special priority windows for season ticket holders, Yellows email subscribers and travelling Matlock supporters over the weekend, tickets for the game are now on general sale.

The match is an all-ticket affair – at present, no cash turnstiles will be in operation and tickets must be bought from the official Warrington Town website in advance.

Tickets cost £12 for adults, £8 for concessions and £3 for under 16s.

> Warrington Town issue pyrotechnics warning ahead of play-off semi-final

If you can’t make it to the game, Town provide full match commentary of every game on their Mixlr channel – mixlr.com/theyellows.

The Warrington Guardian will have in-depth coverage and post-match reaction from Cantilever Park via a live blog, which will get underway from around 7pm.

A large crowd is expected at Cantilever Park for the play-off game (Image: Sean Walsh)