Today’s washout due to a waterlogged pitch at Banbury United has seen the Bulls’ slip 5 points outside the play-off positions. This has certainly added a need to really focus on gaining a victory over visiting Buxton at Edgar Street on Easter Monday.
Given Paul Caddis’ view that at this stage each win is vital – no matter the performance – his side must eradicate any individual errors and concentrate for the entire 90 minutes. A victory – and only a victory – will give Hereford the necessary momentum.
Buxton are no April Fools!
Which Buxton will turn up? The mid-table, not-too-bothered-its-all-change-in-a-few-weeks squad? Or the side who have won 9 away games – scoring 3 times in 8 of them. Strangely for a club who play on plastic, their away record is better than their home. At Silverlands, they’ve only won six (including beating us 2-1). The advantage of 4G surfaces is still there, but you have to have the squad with which to exploit it.
Buxton lost 4-1 at home to Chester on Friday. That’s no wins in the last four, and only one point in a 2-2 draw with Southport during that run.
A key factor is the manager – Craig Elliott – has just announced he’s leaving at season’s ends. A number of players won’t be staying either. Buxton are mid-table, so how bothered are they going to be? Buxton are rather “Gowlingesque” in that if they go behind, they stay behind. There’s only been one exception in the last 14 months.
Their manager has a very decent CV across a number of clubs. He started his managerial career in 2008 and is only 45 now. He previously took Boston United to a playoff final but wasn’t given time to rebuild their squad. Seems he can’t commit to full-time and is “looking for a new challenge”.
Players to be aware of include top scorer Diego di Girolamo with 13 in 29 games. Up to now he’s a stayer having joined back in 2018. Need to be mindful of Dylan Mottram-Henry who is right in form. He is roughly the equivalent of Ceesay though he’s on loan from South Shields. Must mention defender Josh Granite, purely because of his name. We’re unlikely to see Jak McCourt who’s just added a red to his 12 yellow cards. That’s a heck of a collection in 24 games. Plus former Bull Adam Livingstone who’s played 90 minutes at left back in virtually every game. In answer to my very obvious question about the need to wear long johns for the whole season, Adam told me he had no worries about playing at Ice Station Zebra. He’s Scottish and therefore used to brass monkey weather.
A new player to the Buxton ranks is the 20-year-old left winger Sean Etaluku who has joined the club on loan from Barrow until the end of the season. The ex-Burnley youngster is yet to make a regular first team breakthrough apart from a 13-match loan spell at Mossley last season.
Buxton are turning full-time next season. All sorts of developments are in progess with a new stand with parking underneath. Proper retail outlets to replace portacabins and a new training base just a mile away. Being so close to Manchester, recruiting extra talent will be straightforward. But with an average gate of 687, in a town of just 22,000 folk and with so much competition nearby, what’s the point? The big clubs apart, even Macclesfield, just 11 miles away and in a lower league, pull in nearly 4 times as many supporters. The club owner is David Hopkins, who co-owns a popular local chain of builders and plumbers’ merchants. He’s always lived local and always supported his local team.
Here’s hoping that the match outcome will be significant.
Make sure you are at Edgar Street. Never Give In – Never Give Up!
Buxton Football Club (ticketco.events)
Simon Wright
