“THEY’RE the best side I’ve seen at this level for five or six years.”

After watching his Matlock Town side fall victim to a red-hot Warrington Town display in Tuesday’s play-off semi-final, Gladiators boss Martin Carruthers was quick to praise Yellows’ performance.

A blistering first-half display from the hosts saw the game ended as a contest by half-time, with Warrington 4-0 at the break.

Matlock at least restored some pride in the second half but were well-beaten on the day and in his post-match reaction, Carruthers believes his side ran into the division’s best team, better even than runaway NPL Premier Division champions South Shields

“We were well beaten by a far superior side – it was men against boys,” he told the Gladiators’ official website.

“They’re the best side I’ve seen at this level for five or six years – their movement, their rotation and the quality of their counter-attacking is really outstanding.

“I think – and no disrespect to South Shields – that they’re a better side than Shields and I’ll be really shocked if they don’t go on and win the final against Bamber Bridge.

“We simply couldn’t match them – they’re a side three years in the making and it’s what we want to aspire to.”

Two goals from man of the match Luke Duffy and one each from Bohan Dixon and Connor Woods put Mark Beesley’s side in complete command at the break in front of a raucous, season-high crowd of nearly 2,000 fans at Cantilever Park.

It handed Carruthers the trickiest of half-time team talks but he says he was pleased with how his side responded after the break, with Bradley Abbott scoring a late consolation via a stunning long-range volley.

He also praised goalkeeper Saul Deeney, who made several excellent saves to prevent Town from inflicting more misery upon their visitors.

“I said to the lads we had to play for pride – we can’t down tools, don’t go out like this,” he said.

“We won the second half but they’d taken their foot off the gas a bit, having said that I felt we showed real character to make a game of it.

“Saul Deeney made some great saves – he was our man of the match.

“He had no chance with any of the goals, all of which were really good goals – he’d made a great save in the first goal but nobody reacted to the loose ball.

“We’re all disappointed but the lads should be proud of what they’ve done. We’ve just come up against a very, very good side who were bang on form.”