Buckden were aiming to continue their promotion push this weekend with a visit to March, the first such meeting between the two teams, with their opponents coming off an impressive cup win over league leaders Wisbech mid-week. However with the Buckden squad suffering from numerous injuries to key players, they knew it was going to be a fight to come home with all 3 points.
The pitch didn't really lend itself well to the passing game that Buckden are so used to but they started brightly, putting March under pressure and forcing them into playing it long to their lone striker who never really had a chance against the Dale & Den partnership. It wasn't long before Buckden started to take control of the match, getting it wide quickly to the two danger men of Sam and Woo who were causing their fullbacks all sorts of problems. The March centre backs weren't the most athletic pair you will see this season and Dom exploited this to full effect - a bursting run down the right wing, cutting across the defender who could only stretch out an arm and bring him down inside the box. The resulting penalty was tucked away by Alex making it 1-0 and helping to lift some of the pressure from the lads, who were growing into the game every minute. Dom Smith, who was playing upfront as the lone striker, did well at holding the ball up and allowing Buckden to move up the pitch to support the play. The ball was spread wide to Sam Underwood and with a bit of trickery, pace and power was able to breeze past the defender and knock a ball into Dom Smith in the oppositions' penalty area. He was able to let the ball run across his body, shielding it from the defender and struck the ball on the turn slotting it comfortably past the keeper making it a thoroughly deserved 2-0 lead. Admittedly Buckden could have gone into half time 4-0 up after having plenty of chances but felt comfortable with a 2 goal cushion.
The second half played out very similar to the first. Buckden restricted March to very few chances with a man of the match performance coming from Luke Fennell, looking very comfortable sitting in at fullback for the injured Brownie. Buckden didn't have to wait long for their third goal. After a quick throw down the left Sam got the beating of their defence once again, hitting the ball across goal where Woo had got himself in a great position for an easy finish. Noodles made way for Lewis who had a great first appearance in the first team, with Liam, Alex and Westbury continuing to run the show in midfield, winning tackles and getting the ball forward quickly. Lovey came on for Westbury and the control of the game stayed with Buckden, never letting their foot off the gas. If it wasn't for March's keeper who had a blinder then they surely would have scored 6+ goals but it wasn't to be.
The game ended 3-0 to Buckden which was a fantastic result and took them one step closer to their promotion objective. With so many players out injured it also showed the quality and depth of squad that Buckden have, able to push past a physical March side with ease. The games come thick and fast now, with 6 games in 21 days until the end of the season. Buckden look forward to a local derby with 6th placed Eaton Socon on Tuesday hoping to take all 3 points.
