By 1pm the muddy pitch had been marked out, and the III’s kit neatly laid out in the dressing room.  I say this to remind players of the time and effort put into each home match by Lee Turner, the manager, player and captain – not to mention the time on the phone during the week mustering the squad.  Despite his efforts he is too frequently let down – last week the team started with 9 players, this week with only one decent sub.  Grumble over.  As to the game, every player did some good things but these were interspersed with sloppy marking by a defence which played too close to its own goal, aimless passes and a lack of penetration by an attack which did not play forward enough.  Nevertheless for half an hour Buxted held out against a smart, close passing side of youngsters strengthened with a sprinkling of experience.

 

A few chances were made and missed and Maresfield finishing lacked conviction.  When poor marking lead to Maresfields first goal, confidence seemed to drain from the home side and another goal by half time more or less sealed the game.  Buxteds back four were playing too square and Maresfields quick youngsters were finding the gaps – more goals eventually followed.  However the best goal of the match came through a beautiful lob by Gareth Hawkes, making a welcome return to a Buxted team.  Pat West, by now limping added a second with a close range effort, giving a fairly respectable 2 – 6 result against one of the divisions better sides.

 

There were a number of positives to take away from the match.  Despite the goals against, Andy Harper had a good game, making some decent saves and coming out well to collect;  Lee Turner and Chris Scott put over a number of good crosses;  Ben Thomas worked tirelessly and Gareth Hawkes, who was given M.O.M, reminded us what the club has been missing with a series of fine long passes and a sweet lobbed goal.