03/31/07

On what was one of the stickiest pitches seen this season, Buxted put up a pretty good fight here against the league leaders. The home sides’ laid-back approach to their pitch preparation {the game was delayed for about 10 minutes while nets were erected and lines drawn} belied their steel and quality once on the park. Buxted worked hard but were pegged back for much of the first half and were doing well to be going into the break having only conceded once. Andy Harper came to the rescue on more than one occasion when the defence was split and, given the constant pressure, it was quite an impressive defensive display all round, particularly from Gareth. Having been given a rare opportunity to play in a favoured midfield playmakers role, he obviously found the sight of the back-four receiving little of its {intended} protection too much to bear; and dutifully stepped further back, as the half wore on, in order to provide that cover. This was clear evidence of his experience and sense of responsibility and was to his great credit. Thanks to the collective resilience, the only goal in this half came from a corner on 22 minutes when Trevor Slaughter accidentally nodded the ball goal-wards at the back post. By the time Harper realised it was coming in his direction it was too late and the ball looped in.

With a pretty strong bench here the decision was taken to try and snatch something from the game with all three subs being flung into action at the start of the second half. Gareth was hobbling with a thigh and an ankle anyway so only two others made a sacrifice. Jorn had been given a torrid time at left back and Craig had not really been able to get a hold on the ball, so Darren Barton made his 3^rd team debut this season, as did Richard Turner {at right back with Martin switching to the left}. The changes made an undeniable difference and the extra energy gave the Bucks the opportunity to relieve the back-four of some of the pressure of the first half. Sadly though, the West Hoathly defence were intent on keeping their reputation as being the meanest in the division when it comes to “goals against”, and they were true to their form today. Real chances were limited then; and perhaps the best fell to Shane - who had to get a shot away with a defender in tow - and it was on his wrong foot - and it just missed the target. Truth be told; the Hoathly keeper was not really tested today!  

This takes nothing away from the passion shown here by all and although the management felt some frustration at how stretched the midfield was at times, with the holding element over-committing itself forward and failing to get back quickly enough when required, there could be no doubting the side’s enthusiasm and work-rate. Enthusiasm which boiled over a couple of times with both Turners earning themselves a booking for raring up. The West Hoathly tackling was fierce at times but there was no sense that they are a dirty team and the bookings were borne more out of frustration than anything else. Lee had had a particularly thankless game against the Hoathly right-back and will not be happy that his temper got the best of him. Richard’s yellow was for a similar “hand-bags” situation. This was all after the home side had made it 2-0 on about 55 minutes when a fairly innocuous-looking shot hit a bobble just in front of Harper and whizzed through the tips of his fingers to clip the foot of his far post and flop over the line. There seemed little doubt that the shot would have been saved {bar the bobble} so it was a shame for Andy who had a terrific game otherwise. He spread himself bravely a number of times in the second half and was would have been vying with Trevor and Shane for another man-of-the-match award had it not been for the return of Matty Scott - Sublime.

Thanks go to Ben Thomas for joining the squad at late-notice and making a difference with his usual commitment.

 Lance Ingram

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