Main Menu

THAT'S ALL FOLKS

FC Buxton have now completed all of their fixtures for the 2011/12 season - we'll be back in August for Pre-season Training.

GOOD DAY AT THE OFFICE

FC Buxton 5 - 1 Marine

FC Buxton exorcised the ghosts of three weeks prior with a home victory against Marine on Saturday morning at a damp Fairfield Centre.

Following their 2-0 loss on Merseyside in mid-October, FC were keen for a better performance and result in the return fixture. With the squad boosted from last week's victory against a University of Derby XI by the return of several key players (and Gouldy!) the manager had a healthy squad of 15 to choose from this time round. Also added to the squad was new signing Gareth Love (a dream name for a match-report writer), who joined the club in midweek following his impressive showing at the heart of the University defence the previous weekend.

Kyle Hollins and Dave Bainbridge were both available again, after work ruled them out of the last outing, with Stewart Davies ending his exile in Greece after the government there finally accepted that his offer of "staying on and sorting their mess out" was never going to work. Andrew Gould returned from under the thumb, whilst Daymo Sheppard was again missing due to his never-ending search for 'the perfect wig'. Manager Carl Taylor opted to roll back the years with a Giggs-esque type role on the left of the FC midfield in a starting XI that read as follows: Redburn. Betts. Corbett. A Gould. Staff. D Gould. Drennan. Keane (c). Taylor. N Bainbridge. Hollins. Subs for FC were Hill, Love, Davies and the older Bainbridge.

Prior to kick-off, club captain and 'role-model' Robbie Keane had stunned his team-mates when he unleashed a pair of gleaming white 'Lotto Specials' on the dressing room. Not one to shy away from the limelight - with his Topshop style leaving him exposed to endless ribbing - debate raged as to whether the skipper had finally gone too far. In fact, it took Taylor's well-publicised man management skills to calm the situation before it got out of control, with several senior players refusing to look him in the eye. Anyway....

With the pre-match message being to treat the game like any other and not let revenge play too heavily on their minds, all eyes were on how FC would begin the game and go about their task in the opening stages. If there were any doubts about their attitude, these were quickly put to bed in an opening half-hour where the home side played some of their best football of the season. Hollins returned to lead the attack.

It didn't seem that this would be the case following Nick Bainbridge's early sitter, however, confusing everyone (including himself) when he shot with his left foot when through on goal, when his stronger right-foot would've surely found the back of the net.

Panic not though, as Buxton soon made their early dominance pay with two quick-fire set-piece goals - Will Drennan the scorer of both. The first, a 25-yard free-kick, which the goalkeeper failed to read as it landed in the bottom corner. The second came after Kyle Hollins had been brought down in the area after a driving run. Up stepped Drennan to put away the resulting penalty. 2-0.

FC were now firmly in their groove and, with the bit between their teeth, the third goal soon followed. Drennan passed up the chance for his hat-trick to scuff a shot into the path of Nick Bainbridge, who this time finished with aplomb into the bottom right-hand corner. 3-0.

The flow of FC attacks continued, with the Marine full-back clearly struggling to cope with the pace and trickery of born-again winger Taylor. Time and again he was left with twisted blood as the FC player-manager worked his magic down the left. Guess you had to be there...

Three soon became four when Taylor and Bainbridge combined out-wide. As Bainbridge whipped in a ball to the front post, it was Kyle 'Berba' Hollins who reacted fastest to slide in front of the goalkeeper and knock it past him into the bottom corner. His fourth goal of the season, and he had surpassed last season's total after just 10 games.

With the home side cruising, the emphasis of the match had shifted to ensuring they kept their composure and didn't begin to take the match lightly. Unfortunately, this is exactly what they did just before the interval, as some sloppy defending from a corner left the ball ricocheting around the box for the Marine attacker to confidently fire in to the bottom corner. Clean sheet gone. 4-1.

HT 4-1.

Taylor warned against complaceny at the break, with a couple of slips being all that was needed for Marine to find a way into the match, after seizing back some of the momentum with their goal late in the half. Debutant Love replaced Dan Gould on the right, with the FC 'hard-man' still grumpy after an altercation with the gaffer over an unnecessary challenge earlier in the half. One day he'll learn.... won't he?

Not much to report on in the second half, with the match becoming a rather dire spectacle for the small crowd that had assembled pitch-side after hearing of Buxton's scintillating first half display. Not much apart from a bit of a 'worldy' from local hero Chris 'Tiff' Hill that is, who is quickly becoming something of a goalscoring sensation for FC after being used in a more advanced role in recent matches.

After replacing the injured Hollins on the hour, Iain Dowie's long-lost brother produced a masterclass of main striker football, delighting the crowd in the process. Shouts of "Go on Dowie!" were a common theme of the second period, as Hill posed a constant threat. With 15 minutes remaining, he put the match well and truly to bed, with an exquisite turn and shot from just inside the right of the area. Top corner. Goalkeeper no chance. 5-1.

An FC performance to savour.

FT 5-1.

Ratings: Redburn 7. Betts 8. Corbett 7. A Gould 7. Staff 8. D Gould 7. Drennan 9. Keane 8. Taylor (insert rating here). N Bainbridge 7. Hollins 8. Subs: Hill 8. Love 7. Davies 7. D Bainbridge 7.

Manager's MOTM: Will Drennan - his best performance of the season so far. Behind much of FC's dominance, with his impressive penetrative play causing the visitors no end of problems. His two early goals helped settle the hosts.