Sunday 15th April 2007

• Opponent: Pilton
• Fixture type: League
• Venue: Away
• Result: Lost 3-1
• Scorers: Phil Short

Match Report

Buckland began brightly on yet another bone hard surface on the aptly named ‘Rock Park’. With only 8 minutes played a good cross field pass found Phil Short in space, his shot on the half volley from 16yds gave the keeper no chance and Buckland the early lead. The visitors were still thinking of the great goal just scored, as Pilton won a corner-kick, almost straight from the restart. The resulting cross found the head of a Pilton striker, who unchallenged, easily directed the ball into the net from close range. Less than 15 minutes later a cross into the Buckland goalmouth was tipped onto the crossbar by Danny Barnes at full stretch. The ball rebounded back into play only to be headed straight into the goal by an on rushing Pilton striker. The greater possession during the following 20 minutes was held by Buckland, keeping the home side on the back foot. A couple of scoring opportunities fell to the visiting strikers, but the final shot was just off target on each occasion. Just before half time a recurrence of a groin injury meant Simon Adams had to be replaced by Leon Appleton in midfield. With only minutes to the break another corner kick from Pilton found the Buckland defence hesitating and with a shot on the turn, the home team centre forward hit the ball into the top of the Buckland net for goal number three.

The second period was evenly contested with both sides creating several good scoring opportunities. Matt Cann and Vinny Bott kept busy in the heart of midfield, but more often than not, the final ball into the box was generally well dealt with by the home team’s defence. Buckland’s best chances during this latter period came from close range headers from Vinny Bott and John Stanton.

Man of the Match: Matt Cann (midfield)