Depleted Buxton FC receive boost as players return for FA Cup action

Buxton FC boss Paul Phillips expects to have a handful of first-team faces return for his side’s FA Cup clash with Corby Town.
Buxton manager Paul Phillips.Buxton manager Paul Phillips.
Buxton manager Paul Phillips.

The Bucks were without seven key figures for last weekend’s trip to Morpeth Town, with injuries and absentees taking its toll on the squad.

A narrow defeat on the club’s first visit to Craik Park extended the wait for a first BetVictor NPL Premier Division win of the 2019/20 season.

But it is an FA Cup second qualifying round tie against Corby which becomes the centre of attention for now for Phillips and his players.

Buxton ran out 4-0 winners at Romulus in the previous round of the competition and a similar result at Silverlands on Saturday would be a welcome lift.

”We had them [Corby] watched on Saturday,” said Phillips. “They’ll be a good team but we’ve got a home draw so we want to push on into the next round.

“Hopefully we can get a few more players back and involved and have a positive result to take into next Tuesday’s game at Stafford Rangers.”

Callum Chippendale, Jude Oyibo and Nico De Girolamo were all injured for last Saturday’s trip to Morpeth while Liam Hardy (at a wedding), Ash Young (at work), Billy Priestley (suspended) and Jake Hibbs (recalled by Spennymoor) were also absent.

One player who won’t be involved is captain Chippendale who sustained an injury in last Tuesday’s draw at home to Bamber Bridge.

”He’s going to be 10-12 weeks as a minimum,” said Phillips. “I don’t think it will be any quicker. He’ll be a massive miss.

“We’re missing Jude [Oyibo] too, who contributed a lot last season. But these things happen and you’ve got to get on with it and go again.”

The much-changed Buxton side, which included new signings Warren Clarke and Aaron Chalmers, went 75 minutes without conceding at Morpeth.

Then two goals in seven second-half minutes gave a tiring Bucks team an uphill task for the remaining eight minutes of the contest.

Brad Grayson got one back from the penalty spot on the stroke of 90 minutes but Phillips’ side couldn’t mount a comeback, though there were positives to be had.

“We were the better team in the first half,” said Phillips.

“We had four or five players making their debut for the club and we ran out of legs in the end.

“It was a tough place to go but we played some good stuff and there are a lot of positives to take from it.

“We need to start winning games and that’s the be-all and end-all.

“It doesn’t help that we had seven players missing, who started the game [Bamber Bridge] before.

“Aaron Chalmers came in and did well, Kyle Harrison played his second game and did well, Diego [De Girolamo] started another game, so there are positives.

“We hit the post, had a penalty against us and we didn’t have the rub of the green.”