Buxton v Stourbridge Fourth Qualifying Round, Saturday 24th October 2009

The Fourth Qualifying Round of the cup is always a big day for those involved with the 20 teams of the Conference entering the competition alongside the 20 other clubs who have battled through to this stage. I was hoping to take in one of the smaller clubs involved and my first hope was to go to Salford City, but they narrowly lost out in a replay to Blyth. Instead it was to Unibond League outfit, Buxton to see the hosts take on Stourbridge of the Zamaretto League which on paper should be an even match.

Both clubs involved in this tie survive on average gates of around the 300 mark, so the financial as well as footballing prospect of meeting the likes of Leeds, Charlton or Norwich in the next round is a mouthwatering one. Both sides have had to beat three teams to get this far, Buxton seeing off Winterton Rangers, AFC Fylde & Bradford (Park Avenue). Stourbridge's run consisted of wins against Bromsgrove Rovers, Evesham United and Hucknall Town, the latter being a 6-1 away victory in a replay.

The journey to Buxton was a nice straight forward one with a direct service from Piccadilly taking in some amazing views along the climb up to Buxton.

The railway station at Buxton is at the end of the present-day line but the preserved station frontage reminds passers-by of a former glory before the axe fell on the railways in the 60s and 70s.


My first objective was to find the ground, tucked away amongst houses uphill from the town centre, it was a typical autumn afternoon with steady drizzle and a stiff wind so I was fairly soaked by the time I made it to Silverlands, which is handily opposite the police headquarters.

Buxton were founder members of the league they are currently in since 1973 and have spent most of the last 35 years playing at pretty much the same level. As a consequence the ground has a nice retro feel to it, in no small part due to the main stand whilst being perfectly fit for purpose. Silverlands can also claim to be the highest in English football at over 1,000 feet above sea level and with the wind today it certainly felt that way.


The ground had a decent bar which filled with fans from both sides as kick-off approached, the visitors has brought a decent following with them and there was a real buzz about the place and the sun surprisingly broke out as the teams took to the field for the kick-off.


Buxton started the game attacking the open end, with both sets of fans lending their vocal support to their teams. It was a bright opening for Buxton who forced a series of early corners, the last of which clipped the bar directly assisted by the strong wind.



Encouraged, Buxton continued to press and forced a couple of saves from the visiting keeper Stuart Brock the best being from Kieran Lugsden in a one on one situation.


As can happen in football, Stourbridge took the lead with their first real attack of the game, a well flighted free-kick was headed back across the face of the goal leaving Ryan Rowe with a simple header into the unguarded goal.

Buxton went in search of an equaliser and the visiting keeper was forced into action once more as another corner was bending in under the bar. Once again Stourbridge counter attacked and a good through ball picked Rowe again who blasted home to make it 2-0.



With half-time approaching, I had joined the large queue for the pie-hut and it was from here I saw Stourbridge effectively put the game out of reach with a low drive from the edge of the box from Sean Evans. The queue was certainly worth it with an excellent meat and potato effort with gravy and although not the most generous helping of peas they were certainly the best quality so far and yet again mint sauce was to hand.

Feeling somewhat shell-shocked at half-time, Buxton made all three substitutions and looked a lot more solid in the second half without looking like making a break-through.



Any hopes of a comeback were put to an end when a slip in the Buxton defence allowed Ryan Rowe a free run at goal, he was denied a hat-trick by a smart save but the rebound fell straight to Evans who converted the easy chance. Buxton continued to press for a consolation goal but it was to no avail and Stourbridge were the ones to progress into the first round draw.

It was a sad end for Buxton who had last appeared in the first round in 1962, the reward for Stourbridge turned out to be a thrilling home derby with Walsall. As I will be in Southport that weekend my attention will be turning to Tranmere v Orient.

FC Halifax Town v Burscough Third Qualifying Round, Saturday 10th October 2009

I had opted to make a return to West Yorkshire for this round. Dave - my old friend from the Burnden Park glory days - had tried to persuade me to make the short trip to watch his home town team, Halifax, at Droylsden in the previous round but I had already committed myself to a trip to Fleetwood but resolved to watch The Shaymen in if they made it through. Unfortunately, with a holiday coming up, Dave wasn't able to make it but it was a good opportunity to catch up with another friend, Ben, who I hadn't seen for a while who lived in Halifax. So, plans were made to get into town for 1pm to get a good couple of hours drinking in before the game.

Calling into Manchester to catch the train, the city centre had a bit of an edge in the air with two rival demonstrations planned and a huge police presence. A little light relief was provided by this chap doing his own dance routine with the aid of a stereo playing Robert Miles' Children.

Leaving the tensions of Manchester behind the train took me through the Calder Valley and a quick swap of trains at Hebden Bridge, which has a lovely Victorian look to its station, before arriving in Halifax dead on time.

Having arrived, the days promised sunshine had arrived and I met with Ben and headed to the days first pub and a very agreeable pint of Deuchars.
Two hours passed very quickly and a few pints later it was time to head to The Shay just in time for kick-off. FC Halifax Town arose from the ashes of Halifax Town AFC in 2008 after the latter had folded with large debts to the Inland Revenue. Halifax had spent most of their history in the lower reaches of the Football League, and then the majority of the last 15 years in the Football Conference. Following their demise, the newly formed club had to take a drop of three divisions into the First Division of the Unibond League. They have managed to retain a fan-base which reflects the higher level their predecessors had played at, getting well over a 1,000 for every home game. To reach this stage, Halifax had already knocked out Brandon United, Norton & Stockton Ancients and Conference North side Droylsden in the last round.

The visitors, Burscough, were from a division higher in the Unibond Premier League having been relegated from the Conference North the previous season and were theoretically the favourites for the match today. They had arrived at this stage courtesy of victories over Hallam FC & Horden Colliery Welfare in the two preceeding rounds.

On entering the ground, I could see it had changed massively since my previous visit in the early Nineties with new terraces behind both goals and the ground being dominated by the partly-built East Stand which has been under construction since 2001 and delayed by the financial troubles. The only remaining part of the ground is the charming Skircoat Stand, sitting on a hill to the right which dates right back to when Halifax moved there in 1921. The stand roof is even older, purchased from Manchester City who were moving out of their Hyde Road stadium around the same time.



Roared on by nearly 1500 supporters, Halifax dominated the first half territorially with their target man James Dean causing plenty of problems for the visitors. Although Halifax were well on top, Brurscough defended well and there were few clear cut chances. Visiting goalkeeper Kyle Clancey made much of a knock received early in the game, rolling around in manner normally associated with continental football which ensured a chorus of boos from the crowd every time he touched the ball for the remainder of the game.


Halifax squandered the best chance on 40 minutes when a smart James Dean flick, released Richard Marshall who only had the keeper to beat but placed his shot wide. Marshall's blushes were spared a couple of minutes later following a Tom Baker (Yes - James Dean and Tom Baker in the same team) corner, the ball ricocheted to Nicky Gray who smashed the ball home from close range.

For the second half, we relocated to the Skircoat Stand to offer a better view of the goal we expected Halifax to be attacking in the second half. In fact it was Burscough who looked more likely to score in the second half, initially. The best chance fell to Gary McEvatt after a teammate had headed against the post from a corner and he hooked over the open goal from all of 5 yards out.

After these scares, Halifax managed to reassert themselves in the game. Gray missed missed a good chance to get a second heading wide a good far post chance. Richard Marshall was out of luck too, finding the back of the net with a smart finish after good work from Mark Peers to create the chance only to be denied by the linesman's flag. It was to great cheers that the final whistle came, Town were through to the 4th Qualifying Round where the Conference big boys come in and just one game away from the First Round Proper.