Saturday 28th February 2009
- Opponent: Bratton Fleming
- Fixture type: League
- Venue: Away
- Result: Drew 2-2
- Scorers: Vincent Bott, Matt Horn
Match Report
Buckland looked bright during the opening 10 minutes, with the home side being kept on the back foot. Unfortunately the lively start by the visitors could not be maintained with the defence soon coming under pressure by a home side who quickly grew in confidence. Several scoring opportunities were created midway through the opening half by a Bratton Fleming team who were being given far to much room and time by a lackadaisical Buckland side. An unchallenged run and shot from just outside the box flew into the top corner of the net after 25 minutes to put the home side ahead. Buckland tried to equalise in the subsequent 15 minutes as the midfield players regained partial control of the centre of the park. Shots from Vinny Bott, that struck a post and Simon Adams who went close on a couple of occasions gave Buckland hope. A fine save by keeper Danny Barnes, just before the break, kept the Bratton strikers at bay.
Stern words by the Manager during the half time break seemed to have lifted the attitude of Buckland’s players as within the opening 2 minutes a fine interchange of passes between Arran Brooks and Simon Adams saw the ball driven across the goalmouth where Vinny Bott was on hand to prod the ball past the keeper. The next 20 minutes were controlled by the visitors who eventually edged ahead as another good pass into the six yard box was met by Matt Horn who squeezed a shot into the net from close range, under pressure from two defenders. The game looked to be concluding in the visitors favour with 15 minutes left, until seconds after Buckland made a substitution when a confused defence were caught napping by a quick throw-in. A Bratton Fleming striker strolling through the defence before easily slotting the ball past an exposed keeper. With only 3 minutes remaining the home side were awarded a penalty kick for a deliberate trip. The savour for Buckland was keeper Danny Barnes who got down low to his left to block the spot kick and save the blushes of his team-mates.
Man of the Match: Danny Barnes (goalkeeper) & Gary Montague (defender)