Buxton boss Steve Cunningham wants his side to put the pressure on Northern Premier League title rivals

The Bucks beat Scarborough 5-1 with an impressive performance to move to the top of the Northern Premier League.

Now Cunnngham wants his title-chasers to assert their authority and make their title rivals struggle to match their pace.

“We missed our chance a little with the Nantwich and Lancaster results, but the lads have been under pressure,” he said.

“We have got a serious challenge on if we want to win the league and we can’t afford to drop points.

“That is the new challenge, we have to stay up there as long as we can. It is just trying to put pressure on other teams now, but it is one game at a time.

“We will do one game at a time, we will work hard and be respectful and then hopefully we will be top of the table after 42 games.

“The FA Cup has been a distraction, I don’t care what anyone says, how can it not be a distraction?

“All of a sudden to go top of the table, two clear and with a game in hand, the lads have done great.

“It is great for the club, it is great for the chairman. I am pleased for the players. It gives us something to fight for.

“The FA Cup is done and dusted and if you are mid-table with nothing to play for then how do you recreate that level of energy for your next game.”

And if Buxton put in the level of performance shown against Scarborough each week then the Bucks will certainly be in with a great chance of winning the title.

It was a display which left Cunningham delighted with the quality and effort shown.

“We needed to get a result last night and any kind of win,” added Cunningham.

“I didn't care about the performance, I knew they would be tired and we were limited on numbers with no John Granite. Ashley Chambers was injured and went on for me.

“We had one senior fit sub and we were limited.

“The performance was outstanding and it could have been double figures. We missed a lot of one-on-ones. We have put teams to bed earlier or we put ourselves under pressure, but I can’t complain when we have beaten a top 10 team 5-1 when it should have been double figures.

“We showed class and character. It was the best attacking performance I have seen by a team at this level.

“Jamie Ward was breathtaking last night. The players are running through brick walls at the minute and I can’t thank them enough.

“As a new manager coming in you have got to earn that level of respect so that a player will do that for you.

“I have seen a shift in the last two weeks where the players have really bought into what we are about.”

The win over Scarborough was watched by 447 fans - a level of support which Cunningham is delighted to see.

“There have been a lot of home games recently and to see the crowds we have had has been brilliant,” he added.

“The figure might say only 447 last night, but that was still tremendous.

“We are trying to capture the support and the FA cup has galvanised them about the team.

“The crowd on Saturday was unbelievable and it was amazing walking out to them.

"Everyone at Buxton FC appreciates the support we are getting and we want to say thankyou to all the fans."

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