02/18/07

2006 / 2007 Season 30/09/2006

Congratulations should be offered to Heath Rangers for obtaining the use of Bolney’s pitch here. It’s a long trip for Buxted but it was worth it to find the pitch to be in such great shape.

Congratulations should also be extended to the 3rds who pocketed their first 3 points of the season to climb to 9^th in the table.

The opening exchanges saw Buxted a little tentative down their right flank and Harper was forced to make a smart save down to his left which he held well. A deep Lee Turner corner (the first of many) at the other end, saw Nigel rise at the back stick to nod the ball just wide.

It was a seemingly hopeful left-footed cross into the box after about 10 minutes, from barely 3 yards into the opposition half, that saw Gareth Houkes claim the first goal of the game. The defence watched as their keeper rose, only to flap away at the ball as it dropped in clean over his head. Modesty forbade the G-Man from claiming that it was a shot; although this reporter can confirm that he had definitely received inside information about this keeper’s dubious credentials in the catching department. The second Buxted strike on 18 minutes came as Ben used his strength and composure to hold off the close attentions of a Rangers defender and plant a neat right-foot strike into the net low down to the keeper’s right.

The Reds looked on a roll at this point but for a moment of indecision from Steve Carvey leading to an unfortunate free-kick on the by-line which was hoisted in to the area. Here a very loosely-marked yellow no.6 was able to run on to a free header from point-blank range that gave Harper no chance. This was seen as a minor set-back on the day by Buxted however who began to dominate the midfield and both flanks. We were treated to some tenacious work and good skills from Chris Scott and some terrific crosses from both right and left where Lee was having a field day with the opposition’s right-back. On 25 minutes Lee benefited from his efforts with a great strike following a surging run into the box for goal number 3 for the visitors. The half continued with relentless Buxted pressure to the extent that when the Banana-men won a throw in level with our 18-yard line, after a communication breakdown between Gareth and Martin, the defence and the goalkeeper appeared to be in a collective trance as the throw rolled across the penalty box - to be smacked home by a grateful looking striker. This was as poor a piece of defending as we would hope to see for the rest of the season but the half ended on a brighter note with a 4^th for Buxted about 6 minutes before the break. Ranger’s number 11 had a large nibble at Nigel’s shin and after some treatment the free kick led to a goal-mouth scramble to be proud of resulting in a tap-in for an own goal for one of their defenders. This seemed fair retribution as the number 11 spent a fair proportion of the game “making his presence felt” without as much as a ticking off from the official.

Ranger’s came out for the second half with some bite and particularly their number 7 was to feature strongly in the picture. The game took on a less one-sided look for a while and the Reds’ best chance of the early stages came when Ben put Chris in with a slide-rule, defence-splitting pass. Chris’s thumping effort wouldn’t stay down however. There followed a vital goal-line clearance from Steve Carvey and some neat football from both sides ending in some fancy footwork from the number 7 Banana who (having had to leave the field early in the half for some treatment to a head wound suffered in a collision with Ben) side-stepped 2 of ours before belting the ball over Harper from about 23 yards. There was then a small flurry of hopeful Ranger’s pressure but this was followed by more total domination by Buxted.

With the yellow’s Captain now being effectively neutralised by Carvey, and the troublesome number 11 finding no way through the midfield, the Bucks took control. The two goal cushion was restored on 54 minutes when Billsy collected one over the top and raced on to lash it in left-footed from 20 yards. The home side were to be caught square time after time from now on and really didn’t have the pace in defence to hold such a high line. Shane was to have a handful of chances from the same spot; one of which dropped down off the crossbar and ran menacingly across the entire length of the goal before being cleared.

After 68 minutes Gareth retired with blisters and Simon took Nigel’s place in midfield while Nigel dropped back into the centre of defence. Simon settled in quickly and well and the one-way traffic continued with some great free-flowing football and it was a treat to see the 3rds enjoying a well–constructed passing game. The former yellows’ hero “7” turned villain when his attempted headed clearance, from a very well-struck free kick from Chris, whizzed past his own keeper. After 40 minutes Craig then took advantage, after splitting the static defence, by worrying the Ranger’s keeper into spilling the ball for him to tap in for Buxted’s 7^th goal; and he nearly made it 8 in a similar move but his clever attempted-flick over the keeper didn’t quite come off.

This reporter dare not speculate what became of the referee’s watch during the second half but to the two unofficial time-keepers in our ranks it seemed that the game had passed the 97^th minute mark when Rangers managed to scuff a 4^th goal in from a corner! After about a further 3 minutes the man in black finally decided to blow for full time and the Bucks were deservedly pleased with themselves. After all, this was their first competitive victory since December 10^th 2005 and to win with some style in their play was a great boost.

Thanks go to Butch for joining the team today; offering support and ‘running’ the line during the second half. 

The main positives to take from the game:

Matty had virtually nothing to do!

A revitalised, rejuvenated-looking Nigel collected the Man-of-the-match award for an inspired performance and he was run very close by Martin whose trade-mark “second wind” was a major truism towards the end of the second half.

Andy Harper gets the nod as Player-of-the-month for September. He is looking like the real deal and stands behind what looks like a squad that is really beginning to gel as a team.

Lance "3pts" Ingram