02/18/07

2006 / 2007 Season 11/11/2006

Buxted’s first draw of the season could well have ended at 5-5 were it not for two very solid goalkeeping performances. Andy Harper, particularly, was outstanding today putting up a memorable, and extremely brave show to earn the proud title of Man-of-the-Match. The opposing team concurred with this and there is no doubt that Buxted could well have been at least two goals behind within the first 10 minutes but for his blocks from one-on-one situations with the Scaynes Hill no.9. This chap looked peerless for a good period of the first half and he was a constant danger from any ball over the top. Buxted were somewhat taken aback by his pace early on and it took some time for them to find any real rhythm. They eventually settled down and began to lay some pressure down at the other end. Both flanks did well, and in the middle it seemed only a matter of time before something would fall a little more kindly for Buxted. Chris smacked the post on about 25 minutes, and Craig skimmed the cross-bar with a centre a short time after, but the ball just wouldn’t drop to the correct foot for anyone and the ‘Hill ‘keeper did well enough with whatever came his way.

0-0 at half-time then and with no injury problems, and the team beginning to get on top of things, there were no changes to the side that returned to the field. This half started far more positively for Buxted and there wasn’t too long to wait for a break-through. Only a couple of minutes had gone when Mark threaded a lovely ball through for Ben to latch on to. Ben’s pace took him round the last defender and his tenacity got him the goal after an initial save rebounded back out. With the first goal in the bag, and the Scaynes Hill midfield looking increasingly ragged, the Bucks looked pretty comfortable for the best part of the second half. There were one or two near-misses at the other end but, apart from another point-blank save from Harper, it was mostly one-way traffic. The introduction of the classy Andy King (for a luckless Craig) on 55 minutes made even more of a difference; and with Jay ably replacing Nigel (ankle injury) in the back four, consolidation seemed assured. The Scaynes Hill midfield all but disappeared at times and Andy reigned supreme here when he was dropped back after 75 minutes to allow Shane to go up-front; after Pat had run himself into the ground and got a blooded nose for his trouble. Jay has certainly grown in stature as a player and with him, and each of the other three defenders, being allowed short individual forays into enemy territory - Buxted surely couldn’t fail to add to their tally.

The packed Scaynes Hill defence held firm though and Buxted spent the last 15 minutes battering away without managing to find the telling shot to finish the game off. The killer blow came with seconds of normal time left, when a clearance from the back was hoisted over the middle of the Buxted rearguard. The two ‘Hill strikers were clearly both off-side but the only person in West Sussex who didn’t notice this was the referee. The assistant-referee flagged, the Buxted defence relaxed, but the Scaynes Hill front-man took the ball on and lobbed it over the approaching Harper and into the gaping net. The old football cliché about “playing to the whistle” is a cliché for good reason; but this was a bitter pill to chew on after the dominance Buxted had exerted for the better part of the second half. The Bucks still looked as though they could get a winner from the re-start but time was too short and they had to settle for having their pockets picked on this occasion. After the final whistle, the referee acknowledged that he may have made a mistake but that was little consolation to the visitors. As stated at the top of this report though, the score could possibly have been an even five each on balance, and perhaps both sides could rue not having taken their chances when they were having a good spell. Having led until the dying minutes however Buxted will probably feel the more aggrieved, especially bearing in mind the nature of the home side’s equaliser, and will almost certainly remember this game as two points dropped, rather than one gained. A special mention for some neat, quality football under the nose of this reporter – Andy, Ben, Pat and Scotty – a joy to watch.                                                                                                   

Lance Ingram

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