02/18/07

2006 / 2007 Season 03/02/2007

At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, there seems little doubt that if Cowden play as well as they are capable of and acquire a bit more of a killer-instinct, they will be in the shake up for the league title at the end of this season. They are a well organised side and spent the vast majority of this game on the attack. That they did not score more goals was partly down to their own lack of shooting practice in the first twenty minutes when Buxted had difficulty getting out of their own half. Their many efforts on goal left something to be desired until one was unleashed from around the edge of the box that gave Andy Harper no chance.

Buxted spent the rest of the first-half with their backs to the wall as they were unable to hold the ball up long enough to sustain an appropriate spell of pressure at the other end. Lee Turner will have been disappointed that his delivery from the few corners the Bucks earned later in the half were not up to standard; as this robbed the home side of some of their (likely) best opportunities to get on the score sheet today.

The half-time change of ends saw the Mavericks’ defence having to deal with the sun in their eyes and this was probably an aid to the Buxted midfield and attack in the second period. On managing to pick up and hold the ball a little better the home side’s defence were relieved of the constant pressure for short spells; at least for long enough to draw breath. It couldn’t be said that any particular control was gained in midfield but at least he ball wasn’t pinging straight back towards the Buxted goal every single time it was cleared; as was the case in the first half. Lee and Shane managed to link a few moves together; and Shane’s directed efforts in dropping deeper to help out the midfield paid off. He had a better half, of a good industrious performance overall, and was close to getting a goal when he chipped the Cowden goalkeeper, after a rebounded strike, only to see the effort cleared off the line by a defender. On another day perhaps Ben (2nds) Thomas or Mark (last-minute illness) Houkes might have been following up to beat the defender to that ball for a tap-in, but Buxted were short of 1^st-choice players today and this match was always going to be full of “what ifs”!

Cowden’s 2^nd goal after about 60 minutes was a scrappy affair that saw a goal-line clearance from Lee fall to a striker who took full advantage from inside the 6-yard box. No such luck was available at the other end as Jorn’s goal-bound header dropped kindly for a defender to put his foot through. That’s the way it goes some days. Jorn’s effort was directly from one of Lee’s (far better) corners in this half and Fridge was unlucky late-on when he also rose to connect with one, firmly with his head, only to be heard cursing mildly as the ball sailed over the bar.

Buxted should take heart from their performance today as they remain in the top half of the table and worked extremely hard to hold the Mavericks to a 2-goal victory; none more so than Wayne Bristow who couldn’t even speak at the final whistle, he was so exhausted. However Gareth Houkes (who was so exhausted before kick-off, he could hardly speak) just about pipped the rest of the back four to take Man-of-the-Match. Their combined, tireless, last-ditch defending would have earned us points on another day; were there more options in reserve further up the pitch to counteract the pressure. Today, Craig and Andy (and eventually Bob) were well marshalled up front, and Jay’s re-introduction was a tough one for him. From the Manager’s point of view then, it was a great shame the squad ended up so depleted on the day by absentees through illness, other commitments, and players being drafted into the 2^nd team; as facing such strong opposition with one senior substitute was pretty disheartening in the end. Having to referee the game compounds the problem as it is obviously not ethical to direct one’s own team from the centre of the park, even when you can see even more clearly where players are not taking full advantage of situations as they arise. Very frustrating.

Lastly, thanks to Cowden for their subs & supporter’s help retrieving lost balls, and for bringing along some pretty fit WAGs to dribble around……..{to coin a footballing expression}!!                         

                                      Lance Ingram            

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