Silent captain roars FC to victory…

FC Buxton 3 – 2 Health and Safety Laboratories

The curtain came down on FC Buxton’s season on Wednesday night as they entertained the Health and Safety Laboratories works’ team, in their traditional end-of-season friendly match. Despite a bombardment of the HSL goal for the majority of the encounter, FC were made to work hard for the win, and will be relieved to have ended the season on a high.

The match also marked the end of Ben Bolton’s loan spell from Thailand Division One outfit Chula United, and it was a fitting gesture that he was made honorary captain for the match. As he was handed the new lime-green skipper’s armband in the pre-match huddle, rumours were rife that he almost spoke. It has since been confirmed that it was just a cough.  Ben Bolton

Despite having a strong squad at his disposal, team selector Tiff shocked onlookers by employing himself as a makeshift striker. Seemingly unnerved by his impression of a ‘baby elephant’ last time he played up-top, he joined Hollins in an interesting looking forward line, with the prolific Corbett dropping back to midfield.

The full starting line-up was as follows: Redburn. Betts. Gould. Moss. Merse. Dren. Bolton. Corbett. Caley. Hollins. Hill. Substitutes for Buxton were Dan Gould, JLS Wright and Hallman. Young Jack Gregory was controversially ordered by dictator Tiff to play for the opposition, who only had 10.

FC started brightly and the thrown together nature of the HSL side was evident, as time and time again their defence was breached through a combination of missed clearances and weak goal-kicks. Buxton, however, were not having a great deal of luck in front of goal, and the hard pitch was not aiding matters. Some might say it was like Whitby all over again..

After Dowi..sorry Tiff, had gone close with a flick over the goalie’s head, and Dom had missed several chances as norm, a wild throw in from Merse nearly knocked Corbett over. This appeared to spur him into action, however, as minutes later he popped up with a poachers finish from the edge of the six-yard box, after good work on the right by Tiff. He still hadn’t mastered the art of the celebration, however. 1-0.

Buxton had got their goal and the signs were that the floodgates would now open. This was not to be the case though as more poor finishing kept HSL in with a shout. Following a Drennan effort which fizzed wide, and a goal-line clearance (at the wrong end) by Caley, a classy through ball by Merse sent step-brother Hollins clear through on goal. He fell over.

FC finally got another 10 minutes before half-time when an inswinging free-kick from the left by Gould was met with the deftest of touches off Drennan’s head. The ball flicked over the stranded keeper and into the net. 2-0.

This was Buxton’s chance to push on and put the game to bed before half-time, but their need to try and play the offside trap at every opportunity cost them dear. As the defence stepped up, the only striker offside was deemed not to be interfering with play, and the runner from midfield was able to gain a clear run on goal and finish with aplomb, despite the advances of Redburn. 2-1.

HT 2-1.

FC were met by strong words at the interval, with the Tiffster declaring ‘we must not lose!’. It was felt that anything other than a win would feel like a defeat, with Buxton failing to notch up three points in any of their previous six outings.

The team was unchanged at the restart. However, after 10 minutes of more lax finishing, it was obvious a change was needed. Hallman was brought on for the wasteful Caley. He was sent on up-top in search of a goal, with Tiff dropping back into the centre and Corbett taking Caley’s place on the left.

Despite more chances going begging for Buxton, HSL were beginning to have more of an impact on the game, with their three impressive playmakers pulling the strings in the middle. A couple of forays forwarded almost ended up in them levelling the scores, and it was beginning to look like FC’s failure to convert their chances would cost them dear.

The inevitable happened midway through the half, when HSL’s onrushing midfielder was allowed time and space to unleash a bullet of a shot into the top of the FC net giving subsitute goalkeeper Jimmy JLS no chance. 2-2.

Arguments began to creep in amongst the ranks and a period of poor play followed, with neither side looking likely or able to grab the win. Another couple of changes were made to freshen things up, with Dom returning for the hobbling Bolton, and Dan Gould taking Tiff’s place.

MoM William DrennanThe removal of the hormonal Tiff appeared to breathe a new lease of life into the FC ranks, as they began to press forward again in search of the winner. Merse went close with a fierce drive from the left of the area, whilst Dom again failed to find the net despite several good chances. Gould followed suit, getting his angles all wrong after the ball had broken loose from a corner.

All the signs were there that it was not going to be Buxton’s day, especially when Corbett saw his break into the box ended by a clumsy challenge from the HSL defender. Referee Barler was clearly looking the other way. No penalty. Drennan was subsequently threatened with detention for his protests.

Just as it looked as though time was running out on another frustrating FC performance, a well-taken free kick from Moss (under the advice of Merse and Gould) was flicked on by Hallman into the path of Drennan, who had made a good run in behind the visitors’ defence. His instinctive turn and shot found the bottom corner of the net, much to the relief of all involved. 3-2.

As the sun went down with another season over, FC Buxton were just glad to sign off with a win. It had been a season of mixed fortunes for Buxton, with some early season optimism killed off by the harshest of winters. Fixture cancellations whether rain, snow or shine had been a frustrating feature throughout, and as such it had been difficult to build up any kind of consistency in terms of results and squad availability.

20 games had been a poor return compared to recent seasons, but it was 20 games more than it would have been without the mighty FC…! Roll on August.

FT 3-2.

Merson’s MOTM: Will Drennan.