Saturday 21st April 2007

• Opponent: Shebbear United
• Fixture type: League
• Venue: Home
• Result: Lost 2-0

Match Report

Promotion chasing Shebbear came to Buckland on an afternoon when the home side were missing five regular players. The hopes of a reasonable scoreline for Buckland were not high with this depleted team. To the credit of the side, everyone played well and held the title hopefuls for the opening 45 minutes. The visitors should possibly have taken the lead, as twice the Buckland woodwork was rattled with good shots. Superb defending by Buckland also played a part in keeping the visiting strikers at bay.

As the second period progressed the Buckland legs began to tire in the afternoon heat and on the hour a Shebbear striker just managed to poke out a foot and prod the ball through the legs of a defender and stand-in keeper, Darren Moore from close range, with the ball finally nestling in the back of the net.

Buckland did not capitulate, but pressed forward in an attempt to gain an equaliser. Several good crosses into the visitor’s box made the keeper and defence work hard but the final Buckland shot was just not quite good enough. Fifteen minutes from time a long ball from the Shebbear midfield was flicked over the last Buckland defender by their centre forward and was subsequently chased by the same player and a colleague who was in an offside position. Luckily for Shebbear, the pass was collected by the same player who had made the initial flick, which meant he was onside. As the keeper came off his line the striker neatly chipped the ball over his head to record goal number two. The home side put together a couple of good moves late in the game which the visiting defenders struggled to deal with, but the elusive goal was not to be.

Man of the Match: Leon Appleton (midfield)