Hotshot Hardy the best in the league - McIntosh

Buxton boss Martin McIntosh believes he has got something no other team in the Evo-Stik Premier has in striker Liam Hardy.
Liam Hardy in action for BuxtonLiam Hardy in action for Buxton
Liam Hardy in action for Buxton

Hotshot Hardy bagged a hat-trick on Bank Holiday Monday as the Bucks picked up a second win in three days by beating Ashton United 4-1.

It followed a first home win of the campaign on Saturday with a 2-1 success over Halesowen Town for McIntosh’s improving outfit.

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Hardy also got on the scoresheet in that one to take his season’s tally to six from four games, to take him top of the goalscoring charts.

McIntosh said: “He’s head and shoulders for me the best striker in the league. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.

“I think had he played the first two games for us, based on what he has done since he has started, we’d be in the top three or four.

“He had four chances yesterday and he scored three. He’s prolific and I don’t think anyone could argue against him being the best in the league.

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“We lost Brad Grayson, he decided to go to Mickleover, and we knew it wasn’t going to be a problem because we knew we had Liam back.”

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Greg Young got the other goal in Monday’s win over Ashton and there could have been more, said McIntosh.

“You’ve got to say Liam Hardy on the day was a big difference between the two teams,” said the Buxton boss.

“I can’t understand how their manager can come away with the comment that they’ve been the better team.

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“His team has let in four goals and it could have been five, six or seven. It baffles me as to why some managers try to dress something up differently.

“Really, when you lose four goals you lose four goals and you have to take it on the chin. People will tell me it’s a bad performance and I’ll accept that.

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“It just annoys me that people try to take the gloss off of us winning 4-1. It absolutely baffles me.”

And added: “To win two games in three days and score six goals is good for us; I’ve got to be happy with the players and I’m happy with the situation.

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“I think we’ve steadied up a bit now and hopefully we can get that consistency to kick on from here.”

Two games in the space of two days has lifted Buxton up the table and McIntosh said there is more to come from his troops.

“We’ve won three out of the last four games and I don’t think we’re firing on all cylinders,” he said. “There are a lot of new players at the club.

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“Is it because we need time to gel together, I don’t know, it could be that. We’re just not quite clicking yet.

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“We’re not in a bad position in the league. We can’t complain. But we’re not quite at our best yet.

“We’ve had a few injuries at the start of the season and Liam’s been suspended so we’ve not had a full quota of players available.

“That’s knocked us a little bit out of our stride at the start but I think we’re getting into that stride and we can only get better now.

“We’ve got to make sure we keep ourselves in the correct frame of mind and the correct physical and mental attitude is the same as it was over the weekend.

“If we don’t keep that standard up there then anything can slip quite quickly.”

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