Buckden players arrived to the ground in good spirits after a week off due to the Elsworth game being cancelled, and the players were raring to go. Despite being down to bare 11 with manager Jack Goodger taking a place on the bench the confidence of the side was still high there and the atmosphere was good around the club apart from Chris Weitzel still feeling irate about the training session that took place on Thursday.
After Chris dried his tears it was time to warm up, after a few Ronaldo wannabe free kicks taken by Josh Smith and co they started to switch on and do the traditional Ross Morgan stretches followed by the famous Olly Day "Sideys". Buckden set up in traditional 4-4-2 and despite being down to the bare 11 had a strong team out ready for the game.
The first half was pretty nonexistent. Buckden were still the better side overall but were found rushing that clinical pass a bit too much. The pace of the game was quite poor, and Buckden were getting more and more impatient as the half wore on. Despite this some good chances still found their way to Buckden players. A good interchange on the right side from Man of the Match Ryan Brown and James Woo led to Woo having a mazy run beating the left back and whipping a dangerous ball in to the back post to the in form Jack Bramley who unfortunately couldn't put his volley on target. Chances from open play dried up a little bit after this for Buckden. The next chance would come from a great corner from Josh Smith got deflected into the path of Centre Back Jordan Mason who from a few yards couldn't get over the ball enough to put it on target and blazed over.
Milton created very little and were playing very direct, which was dealt with well by the back four, they were limited to a couple of long range shots which gave goalkeeper Matt Bone no trouble at all. A Few vital headers from crosses from Mason and Dennis made sure no chances were given to Milton. The last 10 Buckden started to play with a bit more tempo and more freedom and were knocking on the door but again poor forward runs along with lack of a killer pass was the reason it ended 0-0 at the end of pretty forgettable half.
After a bit of a rally from the manager the players knew they had another couple of gears to hit and the second half was a completely different story. Right from the start there was more intent in the way Buckden were playing, confidence was growing throughout the whole side, the full backs Ryan and Dom were able to drive on and support the wingers. Josh and Luke were starting to get more of a foothold on the game and were starting to spray balls and stretch the Milton back line who in truth were very fragile. Buckden's tails were up and a great tackle from Chris Dennis won the ball on half way line and sprayed it out wide to Jack Bramley and made a lung busting run to join the attack and a decent ball in from the right side from Bramley was close to falling to the feet of Dennis but a great defensive clearance thwarted the attack. The belief was there for Buckden and they knew if they scored one, that more goals would follow.
Good chances were being created, great interchange from Jon Love and Josh Smith led to a good shot hit just narrowly wide. Buckden had to keep their heads and concentration and keep the tempo up and after a great run from Dom Smith beating two players and cutting inside lead to him being clattered in the box by two players, an absolute stone wall penalty was not given. Buckden needed to keep their heads and not let frustration boil over. It led to Bramley petulantly receiving a yellow card for arguing with the referee, but more concerning, Dom was left in a heap in the opposition's box. He couldn't carry on which lead to manager Jack Goodger dusting off his boots and was to make an appearance.
Whilst he was getting ready to come on, Buckden carried the game on with 10 men, they still kept the pressure on Milton. After good pressure and a poor defensive clearance Milton conceded a corner. It was the type of game that could be decided by a set piece and it proved that way, as after all the pressure it was the two centre backs that unpicked the lock. A great ball in from the left side from Josh Smith was brilliantly flicked on at the near post from Jordan Mason towards fellow centre back Chris Dennis who had a touch ready to turn was clattered from behind by the keeper and the referee has no hesitation and no choice but to give it. Jack Bramley took it and hit it well into the bottom right corner sending the keeper the wrong way to give Buckden an important well deserved 1-0 lead.
This allowed Buckden to play with freedom and really dictate the play. Jack Goodger was finally on and nearly with his first touch from a great free kick from Mason found himself free and the back stick just unable to get a vital touch. Moments later a great jinking run from Jon Love resulted in a free kick on the egde of the box on the right hand side. Jack Bramley stood over it and clipped a delightful left foot free kick over the wall into the right corner and made it 2-0. Milton were deflated and lost all confidence at this point. Minutes later Luke picked up the ball from the back four just inside his own half passed a lovely ball into Josh Smith who turned one, beat another man and slid a great ball into James Woo who was now playing on the left side of midfield, he took one touch cut inside and unleashed a rocket of a shot into the far corner giving the keeper absolutely no chance, by far goal of the game, a great strike.
Milton were devoid of any ideas and a loose throw from the keeper was capitilised on by Jack Goodger, he picked the ball up after winning the tackle and saw the keeper off his line and struck the ball from all of 25 yards out Xabi Alonso style into the open net, a great goal and 4-0 up and Buckden were now cruising. With the result in no doubt Buckden's back four were craving the clean sheet. Milton were pumping balls over and committing more men forward and the back four were dealing with them well, and this left gaps for the midfield to exploit and there was so much space that Josh Smith felt the need to tackle Jon Love as he was clean through. Love would not let this affect him and he was still the hunt for a well deserved goal, after a slip in the defence after good pressure it allowed him to be one on one and he slotted it coolly past the onrushing keeper to make it 5-0. Just minutes before the end Bramley rounded it off as he hit a good strike hard and low off the post to wrap up a great result in a big 6-0 win. It was a great second half performance with some very good goals and finally a clean sheet to celebrate also. A great way to end 2014 for Buckden
