Confident Warren Clarke feels Buxton won't lose

Midfielder Warren Clarke admits he doesn’t feel like title-chasing Buxton are going to lose a match right now.
Buxton made up more ground on leaders Matlock Town.Buxton made up more ground on leaders Matlock Town.
Buxton made up more ground on leaders Matlock Town.

The on-song Bucks eased past Hyde United 3-0 at the weekend to close in on leaders Matlock Town.

And Clarke revealed after the match that he had no doubts Buxton were going to bag all three points.

“I thought from the first five minutes we were at them,” he said. “We started bright (got the goal) and I thought from there that we had won the game straight away.

Warren Clarke scored in Buxton's 3-0 win over Hyde.Warren Clarke scored in Buxton's 3-0 win over Hyde.
Warren Clarke scored in Buxton's 3-0 win over Hyde.

“We dropped off a bit and they had a spell for 15-20 minutes, but after that I thought we moved out of sight.

“It feels like that's the case in every game and I can't see ourselves losing.

“My objective was to get more goals and more assists as well as more involvement in goals, so it was good to get a goal.

“I want to try and get more shots in and to keep chipping in.”

Boss Steve Cunningham added: “It was a really professional performance which displayed high energy and much quality, the keys to our success that brought us a third consecutive clean sheet.”

The hosts were soon into their stride took a 10th-minute lead as leading scorer Diego De Girolamo tapped home from eight yards.

Buxton continued to dominate the opening quarter but Hyde had rather the better of the second, threatening the home goal with three free-kicks in quick succession, then Theo Richardson's flying save at the near-post angle denied Liam Tongue.

Tongue should have equalised in the 36th minute when he shot wide from two yards.

Buxton doubled their lead on 42 minutes before Warren Clarke slotted home after a goalmouth scramble.

After half-time Buxton resumed in most positive with De Girolamo sending a curling shot over the far-post angle.

It was game over on 54 minutes when Jamie Ward converted a De Girolamo cross.

Both keepers had to speed from their respective lines to repel attackers, Clarke was thwarted by good defending after a long, pacey run on the left, while Tongue had a shot deflected for a corner, but the home defence, superbly marshalled as ever by skipper Josh Granite, held firm for a fourth clean sheet sheet in the last five outings.

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