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.
No comments:
Post a Comment