McIntosh: '˜We must be more clinical in front of goal'

Ryan Brooke’s 73rd-minute goal for a resurgent Nantwich side proved to be the winner in Tuesday night’s Evo-Stik Northern Premier match, for the host’s fourth win on the trot.

It was Buxton’s fourth defeat from ten on the road this season - all of which have come by a one-goal margin - as McIntosh’s side missed out on the chance to return to the top.

He said: “I thought we were excellent throughout. Going to Nantwich was always going to be a difficult task midweek, with players working during the day, I thought we started the game very well.

“Going in at half time I thought we were the better side and we had better chances than them but we didn’t quite take them.

“They had a difficult start but they’ve got going again. They were a decent side but we should have been two-up at half time. I was disappointed with our final pass, our final shot.”

He added: “But all-in-all I thought the players were very unlucky to come away with nothing.

“It just shows that we’re very much in every single game that we play in. We’re very hard to beat and in all those other away games we could have won every one of them.

“It’s fine lines between winning and losing matches and it was another one that perhaps we should have won.”

The slender defeat came days after Buxton progressed at home in the FA Trophy following a 2-0 win over neighbours Glossop North End of the Evo-Stik North Division on Saturday.

He said: “I thought it was a very good performance on Saturday. We won 2-0 but we should have won 5-0. That’s the biggest problem at the moment. We’re not scoring enough goals at the minute.

“It’s a collective thing. The goals have been spread around through the players. We need to take chances, we’re getting in the right areas, but we’re not taking them.”

Buxton will face Evo-Stik Southern Premier side King’s Lynn Town in the next round of the Trophy at Silverlands on Saturday, November 12.

But before then McIntosh will prepare his side for the visit of Sutton Coldfield Town on Saturday (November 5, 3pm kick off) in the first of three games at home over the coming weeks.

Sutton Coldfield are six without a win after Monday night’s 4-1 defeat to Hednesford Town and sit fourth-from-bottom, four points better off than struggling Skelmersdale United.

But Buxton are unbeaten on their home patch.

“We’re looking forward to it. With the crowd behind us we hope we can put a show on for them. A lot of our players have played at higher levels and we want to do well for the fans,” said McIntosh.