Battered Buxton sent crashing to shock home defeat

A shock for managers Steve Halford and Paul Phillips.

Only a week after seemingly proving how hard they are to beat, the opposite was true for shellshocked Buxton, who were put to the sword by Witton Albion.

Even though Witton began the day well below the Bucks in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League, Premier Divison table, Witton inflicted a shock 5-0 defeat in front of a stunned Silverlands crowd of 427.

Equally concerning was that a line-up bristling with attacking potential, including experienced debutant James Dean, made few inroads into the Witton defence.

Indeed the aerial ability of ex-AFC Fylde and Chorley man Dean was wasted. Not enough could be made of his headed flicks, and he was starved of crosses from the flanks.

Instead, the match was all about the slick passing and ruthless finishing of the visitors, who belied their position in the bottom five of the table. They took the lead in the 20th minute when a one-on-one was initially saved by Theo Roberts, only for the rebound to be snapped up by Will Jones.

Witton doubled their advantage before half-time when a penalty, awarded for a foul by Tom Dean, was converted by James Foley in the 43rd minute.

Buxton tried hard to rally, with Scott Sephton’s header coming off a post, but the visitors struck the woodwork themselves in the early stages of the second half and killed the game with a brace of goals just after the hour. First, Foley made space for himself to fire home confidently, and then Daniel McKenna drove in off a post.

Buxton’s worst home defeat since March 2006 was completed in the dying minutes when a shot ricocheted off Josh Meade for an own goal.