Winning Away Run Ends But First Point At Alfreton In 25 Years

With both teams urgently needing victory, for vastly different reasons, a Tuesday night of drama was guaranteed at North Street and so it proved from the bizarre outset onwards. It was 7-45 and excellent referee George Warren, in charge of his first Buxton fixture, was ready to start but there was no sign of floodlighting to pierce the exceptional gloom! The lights came on, captain Connor Kirby, on his 199th BFC appearance, won the toss and elected to play down the slope, so Alfreton kicked off and within 15 seconds should have conceded probably the fastest goal in BFC history! The ball was played back to ex-Silverlander, Max Hunt, but Johnny Johnston's electric pace allowed him to charge down Max's forward punt at source but then, with only 'keeper Casper to beat, he shot wide!...Full Match Report HERE

So, time ran out for Buxton, and 2 points can be considered to have been lost when victory would have lifted the club to 5th place from its current 9th position, with just 2 rounds of fixtures remaining. However, Saturday's visit to Curzon Ashton (at 3 pm), followed by the final fixture at home to already relegated Leamington (at 12-30 pm), do still offer the opportunity of finishing in a play-off position. Incidentally, the draw not only ended Buxton's admirable sequence of 6 consecutive away wins, but also the unwanted run of 7 consecutive away defeats at North Road stretching back 25 years to a 2-1 NCEL victory at the Millennium.