Morecambe Matchzone

Buxton 0:1 Morecambe. FA Cup Second Round.

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Image for Buxton 0:1 Morecambe. FA Cup Second Round.

Can the Buxton Bucks Buck The Trend?

 Morecambe travelled from the shores of the Irish Sea to the highest football ground in England (at one thousand feet above Irish or any other sea level), the Silverlands today. At Buxton’s tidy little ground on the outskirts of this picturesque Peak District Spa town, they would face the club which led the Northern Premier League until a week ago in the Second Round of the FA Cup. This is only the third time that the Bucks have reached this stage of the competition. They drew 2-2 against Barrow in the Bluebirds’ original incarnation as a League club in 1962 and then lost the replay 3-1 at Holker Street. They had already played at Peel Park against the original Accrington Stanley four years earlier, where they were mauled by six goals to one.

For Manager Steve Cunningham and his assistant Damien Crossley, the First Round win by a single Diego de Girolamo goal away at York City was their first game in the hot seat at Buxton. Since then, their team had beaten Atherton Collieries 2-0 and Hyde United 3-0 (with goals from de Girolamo in both games) at home to remain top of the Northern Premier League. The Saturday before last, they visited our neighbours Lancaster City and lost for the first time in recent memory by the only goal of the game.  (City are currently to be found in lucky thirteenth place in the NPL.) Buxton’s game against Witton Albion last Saturday was then postponed due to bad weather. Volunteers cleared the artificial 4G pitch of snow – using only plastic and not metal shovels which could damage the surface by strict order of the club – but nearby roads were still impassable as kick-off time approached. They have fallen to fourth place in the league as a result but have games in hand over all their nearest rivals. For the Derbyshire club, though, today’s tie allowed them to walk down Memory Lane: Morecambe was the first team they ever played in the Northern Premier League way back when in August 1973.

The Shrimps, on the other hand, had been redeeming some poor recent performances in League One by winning with an almost supernatural goal by Cole the Goal Stockton at Fleetwood two weeks ago. They came from 0-2 down to draw with Charlton Athletic after that but were then hammered nil-four at home by a team from Milton Keynes last time out. But one of only two victories they have enjoyed in recent time was against Newport County in the last round of the FA Cup: a victory which owed more to goalkeeper Jökull Andrésson’s inspired performance than it did to their overall display. Since then, sadly, the young Icelander has shown his inexperience with at least a couple of poor games. But Morecambe remain five whole levels above the Northern Premier League and today – as the game went out live on terrestrial television – there should be not even the sniff of an upset in deepest Derbyshire.

Would there be, though? Last night, fellow League One sides failed to fall at the second hurdle as Charlton (still without Sam Lavelle) won relatively easily 0-2 at Gateshead whilst leaders Rotherham were disposing of Stockport County by the only goal of the game in South Yorkshire. So the League One relay baton was handed-on to Morecambe today. The question was would they keep it safe – or could the Bucks Buck The Trend of the senior teams exerting their superiority so far?

Following their defeat last Saturday, Morecambe Manager Stephen Robinson singled –out midfielders Alfie McCalmont, Shane McLoughlin and Callum Jones for praise. He said they were let down by their team-mates both in defence and attack, neither of which units operated properly and constantly – in his view – got the simple things in football wrong. Robbo said:

“They need to learn quickly, we are repeating ourselves over and over again to some people, they need to learn what they are very good at. The hardest thing in football is simplicity and realising what you are good at, and some think they are good at things they are not. We have worked with them and we will continue to work with them as the season goes on, but they really need to learn quickly.”

As far as today’s match is concerned, he added:

“Buxton are the lowest ranked side still left in the FA Cup and they are up against a League One side, we have to make sure we are not on the end of an upset. I have had that a lot during my time in Scotland when we played a lot of the lower teams, it is about mentality and attitude to do things well. That’s just the magic of the FA Cup, it is special for players and the atmosphere is incredible – there is a real opportunity for some players to put their name in lights.”

For the opposition, Stephen Cunningham said:

“I’ve done things quite special with smaller football clubs before. But in terms of personal achievement – and also for players to achieve a Second Round live BBC game – yeah; it’s pretty special. There’s always one team that does it in the FA Cup – and why not Buxton this year?”

The biggest worry prior to the game was that the weather might again intervene. But having a plastic pitch makes snowfall far less of a problem than it could be for a grass surface. Providing that players, teams and TV Crews alike could reach the stadium, the fact that this match would go ahead on schedule was never in serious doubt – barring a snowstorm of truly Siberian proportions. The biggest worry for the away Manager was the potential absence of goal machine Cole Stockton, who failed to play in Morecambe’s latest League One game with hamstring problems. But he was passed fit to play today – which turned-out to be very important for the team from Lancashire. The rock at the heart of the home defence in recent times – with the very appropriate name of Josh Granite – was unavailable for the Buxton due to injury but Bucks’ Skipper and Northern Ireland International Jamie Ward – who the Shrimps’ current Manager once tried to sign for Motherwell – was in the starting line-up for the hosts.

It was wet and really windy as the match kicked-off following all the players and officials Taking the Knee. The visitors started brightly with the gale blasting into Morecambe’s faces. But the home team had the better chances early on. After Toumani Diagouraga had given the ball away carelessly on the left of his own penalty area in the twelfth minute, Diego de Girolamo’s instant and brilliant shot hit Kyle Letheren’s left hand post with the big Welsh stopper simply a bystander. The visiting goalkeeper was busy again as the Bucks forced four corners in a row in quick succession as he managed to push balls been blown into the back of his net as they curved-in from the edge of the pitch away to safety. This was after about twenty-two minutes. But just four minutes later, the visitors took the lead with their first meaningful attempt of the game. The Goal Machine was offside as the ball was initially played forward but he ran towards goal from an on-side position seconds later to win the ball with a determined effort on the Shrimps’ right and scored with a perfectly judged shot from a difficult angle. Arthur Gnahoua then belted a wild shot out of the ground after half an hour. The home keeper excelled himself with a smart double save with thirty-eight minutes on the clock. Wes McDonald cut in from the right and took a shot which the goalie pushed back into play at the near post to Alfie McCalmont who should have buried it but Richardson recovered to push the ball away for a corner. Jamie Ward shot fairly well wide from the Buxton left after forty-three minutes but a fairly bitty half ended with the visitors just shading it.

With the wind behind them, the Shrimps continued to try and play positively right from the off in the second half. They were helped as Buxton danger man de Girolamo – who had caught his studs in the artificial surface during the first half and hurt himself – was not able to continue early on. The match was still scrappy and McDonald’s clever turn on the Morecambe right after almost an hour followed by a truly hopeless shot into the crowd probably personified this in one poor move. Robbo shook things up with a double change after 66 minutes as Jonah Ayunga and Callum Jones were thrown into the fray. Ayunga immediately made a difference, causing the home defence increasing problems particularly on their left flank in particular as the part-timers seemed to be tiring. He was actually brought-down by the home goalkeeper after 67 minutes in their penalty area but the Referee blew for another infringement instead to let Buxton off the hook. Then Richardson pulled off a simply sublime save low down to his right to prevent Cole the Goal scoring another one after 76 minutes. The ball fell to the Morecambe Goal Machine again two minutes later but Cole blasted it way over the top when well placed. He had an even better chance just a minute later after Jonah put it on a plate for him after brilliant play on the Morecambe right. But League One’s leading scorer again blasted the ball high over the bar. Richardson denied McDonald with another smart save to his right at the cost of a corner which he punched confidently away after 78 minutes. Ayunga could have put the game beyond doubt right at the death with an unmarked effort from close in – but he, too, blasted the ball over the bar.

So it ended with the narrowest of victories for the visitors. Morecambe didn’t drop the League One baton and will be in the hat for the Third Round as a result. At the end of the game, their Manager summed-up today’s performance with these words:

“I thought it was a professional performance, credit to Buxton, I thought they put up a great fight. We had numerous chances to win the game, we should have been out of sight, but in the end it’s a professional performance and the main thing’s getting through to the next round. Everything was set up for a cup upset today – the wind, the rain, the sleet, on top of a mountain, astroturf – but we did a real professional job so I’m proud of the boys today.”

Amen to that…

Buxton: 1 Theo Richardson; 2 Matt Curley; 3 Nathan Fox; 4 Ben Middleton; 6 Lindon Meikle (Y); 7 Jamie Ward (C); 8 Chris Dawson (17 Dom Tear 80’); 9 Diego de Girolamo (14 Ash Chambers 47’); 10 Tom Elliot (Y); 11 Warren Clarke; 12 James Hurst.

Subs Not Used:  16 Ben Milnes; 18 Akeem Hinds; 19 Heath Richardson; 20 Jack Dillingham; 21 Ewan Catt.

Morecambe: 1 Kyle Letheren; 2 Ryan McLaughlin; 3 Greg Leigh; 4 Anthony O’Connor (C); 7 Wes McDonald; 8 Toumani Diagouraga; 9 Cole Stockton; 15 Ryan Delaney; 19 Shane McLoughlin; 24 Arthur Gnahoua (17 Jonah Ayunga 66’); 25 Alfie McCalmont (6 Callum Jones 66’).

Subs Not Used:  20 Jökull Andrésson; 14 Jonathan Obika; 18 Adam Phillips; 21 Ryan Cooney; 22 Liam Gibson; 28 Courtney Duffus; 31 Scott Wooten.

Ref: Lee Swabey.

 Att: 3,642 (about 500 from Morecambe)

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