The Tom Sparkes League Cup is a competition held close to the hearts of many involved with Bucks CC and last years defeat in the final only added to the desire to win the competition. The first game for Bucks in this seasons competition saw them travel to Long Marston who are a bit of an unknown having only been promoted to the Premier Division at the end of last season.
Bucks started the game well with lots of possession early on, mainly down the left where Ryan Hamilton was linking up well with the players in front of him, particularly Faulkner up front. The home team were well aware of the quality that Bucks possessed and attempted to nullify it by playing 3 men up front and adopting a direct style of play, which kept the centre back pairing of Ainger and Sinfield busy throughout the day. Chances were created inside the first half an hour for Faulkner and Castielli but the pair were being dealt with reasonably well by the Long Marston backline as the midfield trio of Jones, Bailey-Goss and Barr attempted to create chances for them. At the other end Long Marston would have taken the lead had it not been for a goal-line clearance from Ryan Hamilton following a header at a corner. Castielli was booked early on in the half and later in the half escaped a 2nd yellow for dissent. At this point it was decided by Dave Green that it was best to replace the forward before the inevitable happened and he was duly replaced by Ray Long who was returning from suspension.
Play resumed with a free-kick following the substitution, from which it looked like Bucks must score. The free-kick was taken by Moran who floated the ball on to the head of Faulkner, whose header across goal was somehow missed by Conan Barr at the back post, amongst challenges from both a defender and the goalkeeper. A few minutes later this looked to be a very costly miss as the home side took the lead. A cross from the right arrived 7 yards from goal and as Moran punched the ball, it struck the back of the attacker and landed in the net, despite a good effort from Hamilton to prevent it (38 mins). This felt like a huge disappointment for the Bucks defence who had dealt very well with the attacks of the home side.
The second half started much as the first half had, with lots of possession for the away side. Mark Swiercynski replaced Conan Barr at the break which allowed Bucks to keep their formation unchanged. Lots of the game was being played inside the Long Marston half but clear chances were few and far between. It was during a short spell of pressure from the home side that the Bucks equaliser arrived. While under pressure at the back, Michael Ainger won the ball and cleared long up field to Ray Long. Long came out on top in a 50/50 tussle with the defender before unleashing a thunderbolt of a volley from just outside the box which flew past the keeper before he could react (65mins). Bucks were now in the ascendency and looked like the only team who were going to win, but despite much possession and pressure, they were unable to find a winner. A Long Marston player was sent for an early bath shortly before the end of the game and when the final whistle blew, Bucks felt that they had a great chance to see off the 10 men of Long Marston in extra-time.
Bucks went out full of confidence and optimism in extra-time and it looked as though they were right to do so when they almost scored from the opening attack. Good link up play in the middle of park involving Bailey-Goss and Clay saw the latter play an inviting ball into the right channel for Jones to run on to before dispatching a week shot at goal. This proved to be the only real chance of the first half of extra time despite continued good possession from the away side. With 15 minutes remaining, the away side could sense that they were in a good position and there was a real belief that they would be heading through to the next round, but the goal just didn't arrive. Moran had to keep Bucks in the game with 3 minutes to go when the Long Marston defender, who had now been deployed in a forward role, raced away from the defence and looked favourite to score. A slight loose touch from the galloping player was seized upon by Moran who made a smart tackle just outside his box which saw the ball run out for a throw-in and away from danger. The home side were soon back in possession and with the referee indicating that there was just 1 minute left, they forced a corner. Ray Long delivered an inviting ball to the penalty spot where it was met perfectly by Daniel Jones who climbed highest and headed the ball down into the bottom left corner (119 mins). There was just about time for Long Marston to restart the game before the referee blew the final whistle.
Man of the match this week was almost a clean sweep of votes for the impressive Ryan Hamilton who showed tireless effort to get up and down the left flank, showing real quality at both ends of the pitch.
Next week will be an interesting game as the same 2 teams meet again, this time in the league, at Edinburgh Playing fields.
