Bucks boss McGrath happy with key win
John McGrath praised his Buxton side after a strong performances saw them beat fellow play-off hopefuls Scarborough 2-0 on Saturday.
Luke Brennan’s penalty and a second-half Johnny Johnston strike secured a win that left the Bucks two points outside the play-off places ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Alfreton (April 14), played after this week’s Advertiser went to press.
And McGrath told the club’s media it was a fine performance from the whole team on a day when the weather was as much of a challenge as the game itself.
He said: “I was putting sun cream on at 2pm then snow boots at 3pm so it was all the elements!
"But to be fair the boys were excellent throughout and thoroughly deserved three points.
"We never took our foot off the gas and remained solid at the back. I was quite confident, even after missing some chances in the first-half, that something would drop to us.
"We went in at the break 1-0 up and I think Scarborough were quite happy with that as they were to have the wind behind them in the second-half, but we didn’t stop doing what we are good at and it was a great strike from JJ for the second – he was really dangerous all afternoon and it’s something we’ve been working on with him in training where he gets into those areas, to stay calm, shift half a yard and get a shot off and it was a really clinical finish.
"Scarborough are a good side and are where they are in the league for a reason. They’ve got good players and a way of playing but we said at half-time we weren’t going to take a backward step. We were going to step forward and press high, which I think we did and it alleviated the opportunity to put the ball on top of us in our box.”
Had Buxton won at Alfreton on Tuesday they’ll have moved into the play-off places given they had a game in hand on seventh-placed Darlington.
Saturday will see Alfreton head to Curzon Ashton, who are still battling to avoid relegation.