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It will therefore be South Normanton, and not Matlock, that will contest the final at Pride Park against either Belper Town or New Mills on Wednesday, March 25.

Phillips apologised to the fans and labelled the result “embarrassing” after the game.

He said: “It’s not just disappointing, the players have let themselves, the club and the fans down. They get to this stage by beating a good side like Alfreton, then turn in a performance like that in a semi-final with the chance of playing at Derby County’s Pride Park.

“As a unit we find that unacceptable and I apologise to the fans on behalf of us all for that. It was embarrassing, they [South Normanton] have had three shots on target all night - one of them’s a goalkeeping error, the other we’ve switched off at the back, but all in all we’ve had 70, perhaps 75 per cent of the play, had numerous chances to hit the target.

“But we’ve not done that, they’ve defended well and credit and congratulations to them, you could see what it meant to them.”

For all of Matlock’s possession, Shiners’ custodian Curtis Hall had a relatively comfortable evening.

“How many times did we test their keeper, that’s something that’s been evident since I came here,” said Phillips.

“We had all of the play against Hyde and although we scored four against Radcliffe, we should have got possibly six or seven. I said when I came here we’ll lose football matches, that’s part and parcel of football, but we won’t lose football matches by hunger, determination and work-rate. For me, for large parts of the game we didn’t work hard enough.”

Phillips admitted that he has learned more about his squad in Tuesday’s defeat and in the below par second-half display in the win over Worksop last week, and squad changes look to be on the horizon.

“You find out about who you’ve got in your squad and who you want in the trenches, and against South Normanton one or two of the questions have been answered by the players.

“I’ve learned a lot about the group and we need to put it right. Our goalscoring record is a massive concern, we’ve had a load of chances and not taken them and our delivery into the box has been poor at times. It needs addressing if you want to win games. No disrespect to South Normanton but we should be winning games like this.”

Matlock are back at the Proctor Cars Stadium on Saturday with a league visit from in-form Whitby Town who will be seeking a fourth consecutive league win.

The Gladiators will recall that they played their best football of the season in the league when they won 3-0 in North Yorkshire at the end of September.

With goalkeeper Jon Stewart again expected to miss the game and Spencer Harris out due to having an operation on his broken nose on the day before the game, plus Brian Wilson (calf) and Nathan Valentine (hamstring) likely non-starters, there appears to be an increased need for reinforcements. Skipper Adam Yates though hopes to return after tonsillitis.

Matlock’s home clash with Witton Albion last weekend was one of seven which fell foul of the weather in the Premier Division. Results though went Matlock’s way with Stafford Rangers, Grantham Town, Bamber Bridge and Gainsborough Trinity all losing while on Tuesday, Grantham squandered a 3-1 lead at Warrington to draw 3-3 and Stafford lost again at FC United of Manchester.

Phillips added: “We now need to look at the bigger picture, we need league wins and our position indicates we’ve not been good enough. We’ve got games in hand but we need points.

“The lads have all had their chance to show what they can do in the four games we’ve had. I’m looking at getting one or two lads in and one or two out, we need to shake it up. I think we need that bit more physicality.

“I know what to expect from Whitby, they’re on a good run and they’ll try to dominate and impose themselves on us.”

Matlock will then visit Mickleover Sports on Tuesday night.