UniBond League Division One
The Silverlands, Buxton
Saturday, 24th March 2007, 3.00pm
Rovers can't hold the Bucks
Gresley Rovers failed to halt Buxton's march to the UniBond Division One title going down by two goals at The Silverlands.
Buxton came out looking for a quick goal and it almost came on 2 minutes when a free kick was not cleared by the Gresley defence and Danny White hammered a shot that the hit the underside of the bar and, to be honest, looked to have bounced over the line before being cleared.
Rovers' keeper David Clarke reacted very quickly on 9 minutes to deny Mark Reed who'd picked up a poor back header by Danny Douglas.
Clarke was already the busier of the two keeper's by a long chalk and was called on again 5 minutes later this time blocking a shot from Tommy Argus, Paul Walker almost got to the rebound.
Walker had more luck on 19 minutes when he gave the Bucks a deserved lead. A long punt up field saw Reed get in behind Nicky Carter who then sent over a ball to Walker who easily beat Douglas before unleashing a shot that beat Clarke.
Two minutes later the Bucks should have double their advantage when Walker got the better of Rovers' skipper Colin Hoyle by racing to the by-line. His attempted cross was blocked by Hoyle but the Rovers' defender was unlucky to see the rebound fall back at Walker's feet. This time he rolled the ball back for Michael Towey who hit a shot that beat Clarke but cannoned off the far post.
Rovers' only chance of the first period came on 26 minutes with Karl Brown firing well wide from distance.
On 33 minutes another long clearance from White fell nicely for Reed and seeing Clarke well off his line tried a lob that was going wide but Walker got to the far post where he hit a shot into the side netting.
Buxton sealed their victory on 52 minutes when Chris Walton charged down an attempted clearance before sending Reed on his way down the right. The cross was perfect and Walker smashed home his second goal of the afternoon.
Minutes later a foul on Sam Litchfield gave Brown a chance with a free kick which was only half cleared to Shaun Ridgway who hit his first time effort wide.
Just as the home side had been denied a goal that looked to have crossed the line in the first period so did the visitors in the second.
On 81 minutes Bucks keeper Scott Hartley, unemployed for most of the game, fumbled a Ridgway free kick. The ball fell among a crowd of players and it appeared to cross the line before a boot cleared it. Both the referee and his assistant said it hadn't crossed the line!
Rovers had to play the final four or so minutes with only ten men after Litchfield was red carded after saying something to the referee after being penalised for a foul.
Buxton had one more chance just before the final whistle when Young's shot was blocked but the rebound was hit wide by Mark Nangle.
Manager's View
"In the first half, I was disappointed with the goal and we could have been two or three down at half-time as we rode our luck.
"The shot which hit the crossbar looked like it may have bounced over the line from where I was standing.
"We tried to get amongst a few of them at half-time and, as a unit in midfield, we had stood off far too much and given some of their players too much room.
"I thought second half we made more of a fist of it.
"I am told by people who were behind the goal that the ball was over the line in the melee, but Buxton could probably say the same about the one in the first half.
"One of the bright spots over the last couple of weeks has been Chris Mawbey. It was a big test for him today against a very good Buxton side. He made one or two mistakes, but showed he is capable of acquitting himself well."
