Sharrow Vale 4 – 3 FC Buxton

FC Buxton’s indifferent away form continued as a much changed side went down to Sharrow Vale of Sheffield on Saturday morning in a highly entertaining encounter, which had the strong crowd of four gripped right through to the final whistle.

With gaffer Martin Turner busy doing his weekend paper-round, Chairman Stu and ex-gaffer Merse were put in charge of team affairs. From a relatively healthy away match squad by FC’s standards, the pair decided on the following line up (from L to R): Jimmy ‘JLS’ Wright (GK). Merse. Gould. Redfern. Bettsy. Corbett. Tiff. Ben. Dren. Crimmins. Nanny Redburn. Subs for the Bucks were debutant Hallman and academy player Haworth.

Despite Crimmins still being half (to three quarters) cut from the night before, it was him who grabbed the first goal of the game. His hopeful punt from the left of the area was misjudged by the shaky Vale goalie and the ball dropped just beneath the bar into the back of the net. Whether Crimmins can remember this goal is still under debate. 0-1.

Buxton then self-capitulated as a sense of panic creeped into their game. The new look line-up appeared to be struggling to gel, and two quick goals from Vale put them 2-1 up at the break.

HT: 2-1.

Despite the scoreline, FC went into half-time positive that they could still get something out of the match. They had beaten better teams than Sharrow Vale, and the feeling was that if the home side’s shaky defence could be taken advantage of, the rewards would be forthcoming.

Buxton grabbed the equaliser from an increasingly likely source. A Corbett goal used to be as rare as the Tiffster turning down a pie, but not any more it would seem. A corner from the right just before the hour evaded everyone apart from Corbo, who stole a yard on his marker and finished with aplomb at the far post. With his new found scoring form you might expect him to have practised his celebration…he clearly hadn’t. 2-2.

Buxton again pressed the panic button shortly after however, as Redburn (who had replaced Jimmy JLS between the sticks) was beaten by two close range efforts. The square pitch was clearly affecting FC’s game, with Vale on hand to take full advantage of this. 4-2.

Half time substitute Hallman was partnered for the last 15 minutes in a new look attack with youngster Haworth, both demonstrating good hold-up play to bring the midfield into the game. Buxton knew they needed a goal quickly to have any chance of snatching a result, and with the help of the determined Bolton in the centre of FC’s midfield, they took the game to Vale in the closing period.

This paid dividends as Hallman latched onto a good through ball to guide the ball into an open net following a mistake by the Vale keeper, and the Bucks were back in the game. 4-3.

Just as time was running out, Buxton were awarded a corner. The ball was firstly cleared, but as it was crossed back into the box, it was met by Gould on the left of the area. His lob almost gave FC the equaliser they probably deserved, but the Sharrow Vale keeper managed to push the ball onto the crossbar and safely clear up.

So as FC Buxton trundled off into the sunshine, they were left with a feeling of what might have been. What might have been if Tiff had have turned up…

FT: 4-3.

Gaffers MOTM: Ben Bolton.