02/18/07

2006 / 2007 Season 28/10/2006

Local derby day arrived at High Hurstwood with the pitch in pretty good condition considering the rain in the preceding fortnight, which saw no play at Buxted Rec. for the 2^nd consecutive week. The pitch was duly marked, with an added inscription in the centre circle – “BUKSTID FC”. Well, we all knew what Pat meant! 

The game began in a fairly orderly manner with all players getting to know their opposite numbers and it didn’t take Buxted’s captain long to figure out that he could get some joy down the left wing. Ben Thomas noticed this too and it was his knock-on from a goal-kick that sent Lee on his toes and he took the ball past the Maresfield right-back with some ease after 7 minutes. He forged into the penalty box and put a super, hard, fast cross into the path of the Buxted forward line and it was Houkes junior who got the contact for the 1^st of the home side’s goals. The remainder of the half was pretty frustrating for Buxted as they couldn’t quite put a move of such quality together again. They hustled and harried and seemed to be creating chances; and there were a few wayward shots going in; but the Maresfield keeper wasn’t really seriously tested. That is unless you count his fumbled scoop; from what must have been extremely close to behind the goal line; after he bungled a long-range effort from Lee. The captain had an eventful half all round as he was influential down the flank but also let his temper get the better of him and was booked on about 25 minutes for getting a little too up-close-and-personal with the Maresfield no.10. He (Lee) thought he had been fouled near the corner flag but the referee saw the whole incident in a different light after the hand-bags started swinging and the language became somewhat colourful.

The home side’s lack of finishing came back to bite them on the backside with around 40 minutes gone; after they conceded, what seems to be, a fairly standard type of goal to let in at this level. A simple cross, from a dead ball situation, drops over the defender-and-striker pairing, who are jumping to head the ball, and a loose striker is the first to notice that the have both missed it. Little chance for the keeper from 6 yards out, and the half finishes 1-1. A bit of a shame from Buxted’s point of view as their dominance of the play deserved a lead. The defence had coped well with Maresfield’s seeming lack of punch up front; and Gareth had added injury to insult during the mid-air, air-heading incident by accidentally causing some painful damage to the striker’s chest with his (Gareth’s) elbow. A broken rib was suspected, as the player left the field shortly after, and Buxted FC hope there is a full and speedy recovery in store for him.

The second half started much as the first had ended, with a deal of huffing and puffing from Buxted but no end result. Lee’s huffing and puffing began to turn into ankle-biting a little too regularly and it seemed wise to replace him with Dean after around 65 minutes. Despite Lee’s work-rate (and the fact that he hit the bar from a corner) his enthusiasm was wearing a little thin on the referee; who had felt the need to issue a friendly warning in respect of a possible second yellow card. Dean, still on the way back from injury, got involved quickly and efficiently and made a good contribution to the remainder of the half; including a dipping long-range effort with his right foot!

Modesty should forbid the manager for taking too much credit for an earlier substitution though; which (in this reporter’s humble opinion) changed the course of the entire game. With nothing different still going in attack after the first 15 minutes of the second half; we saw the introduction of Pat West. He replaced Craig in the midfield, who was pushed forward, and it was Shane Bills who made way. Shane had made himself pretty busy all game, but the ball wasn’t quite dropping for him and the Maresfield centre-backs seemed to have his game plan figured out by this stage. Pat certainly made a difference in midfield as his normal bustling game shook everyone up a bit. Craig looked immediately far more comfortable in his more natural role up front and things began to gel better. He worked far better with Chris on the right from a more forward position; and produced a lot more telling work from there; chasing balls down and getting much more involved.

Pat’s most crucial contribution was a through ball to Mark, just inside the Maresfield box. Mark’s second telling contribution was to latch onto that ball, and turn two defenders inside out to make himself half a yard to smack it, right-footed, past the Maresfield ‘keeper.

Buxted were looking pretty comfortable at this point, but there is always an edge to a one-goal lead and we were close to being pegged back again after about 80 minutes. From a dead-ball situation (again) Buxted’s marking left something to be desired, and only a spectacular finger-tip save by Andy Harper kept us in the lead. It was a fierce header from about 10 yards and it was a brilliant full-stretch tip over the bar. He was generally well protected and didn’t really have a great deal else to do in this game so it was to his credit that he was alert to this sort of attempt when the defence were slow to react.

From here on in the Bucks went from strength to strength and were still in charge even when Craig had to be replaced by Bob after 84 minutes when his leg cramped up and he could do no more than hobble.

It was Chris Scott who put the final icing on this derby cake with a tremendous, unstoppable 37-yard strike from a Mark Houkes through-ball. Game over. Chris had begun to run riot a little in this half and his second ‘trade-mark’ long-range bullet in as many games must have capped his enjoyment in this game; as it dipped well over the hapless Maresfield ‘keeper’s flailing right arm to seal our first home victory of the season.

This was a good win as much for it’s nature as for the three points, or for the fact that it was against close geographical rivals.

We were lucky enough to have some options on the pitch as well as on the bench.

We were fortunate to see Ben back in our engine-room.

Our goalkeeper was rarely troubled.

It was also extremely encouraging to watch the whole back four playing with such confidence and composure; keeping things simple and covering each other well. None more so than Steve Carvey who gets the nod as Man-of-the-Match for a superb tackling performance. I don’t recall him being beaten in a tackle and he added contributions with forward runs and some first-class distribution. He even managed to floor one Maresfield player from about 3 yards away, just by using the power of his mind to convince the striker that a completely pointless full-length belly-flop was a more sensible option than running any further with the ball! He should be extra-pleased to get the award on this occasion as there were definitely other worthy candidates. The aforementioned Scotty is one; and Mark might feel a little aggrieved after scoring two and laying on the third goal of the afternoon. Mark will have to be satisfied on this occasion with being the side’s new top-scorer {taking his tally above that of Mr Owen Goals} and also getting the shout as the manager’s choice as Player-of the-Month for October. Bagging 4 goals in 3 starts after coming back from injury certainly deserves a pat on the back…….and that is really all he gets in fact…….there is no actual trophy. Well done! 

Lance Ingram

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