Buckden were aiming for a fourth straight win in a row and the chance to take 2nd in the league away from opposition Wisbeach. For the first time all season they had a strong squad with strength and depth throughout the team even stretching to the bench, a nice change to the usual procedure of struggling for a regular starting 11.
Buckden got the game underway with the sun in their eyes first half and wind blowing across the pitch you knew it was going to be a tough affair.
Josh smith and Luke fennel battled away in the midfield against the extra man and with help from Dom smith and James woo either side managed to nullify the numerical advantage that Wisbeach had seeked to gain. This kept the pressure off of a very solid back four with chris Dennis winning everything in the air leaving Jordan mason the easy job of cleaning up the extra pieces. Buckden had a very strong right hand side and everything was created from there as Ryan brown showed he can not only do his defensive duties but also has magical feet as he danced pass players for fun. Not many chances for both teams in the first half saw the game become a scrappy affair however Ryan 'billy Elliot' Brown managed to weave through from his own half and slot the ball to jack who cooly finished to make it 1-0. Not much to talk about really as the game became scrappy with both teams receiving bookings, Josh and Jordan both ended up with yellows throughout the half for 'mistimed' challenges.
Half time came and went with buckden desperate for a clean sheet and a win, this was the time for MOM Craig to shine. Wisbeach changed formation to 3-5-2 whilst Buckden stuck to their 4-4-2, this seemed to give Wisbeach a little more joy going forward but a stern team performance and strong back four kept the chances limited. However Wisbeach always looked a threat from set plays and after a corner fell to one of their players 8 yards out the gaffers heart must have been in his mouth, step up Craig who after seeing the ball late managed to somehow save and hold into a strong shot and keep Buckden ahead, as Wisbeach pushed further forward for the equaliser it have us the chance to use out pace through Shane, jack and Dom on the counter, which would have worked to great effect if they could have seized a 3 on 1 situation. With the game coming to an end it seemed the linesman Dazza wanted to keep it an interesting game and have Wisbeach a rather conspicuous corner, much to the disgust of the bench! But once again Craig managed to pull off another wonderful save and keep Buckden in it until the end. Final whistle blown and the hard work had payed off.
Well done lads, great game for my send off!!
