Keith Alexander Memorial Match
Well this place proved to be a right bitch to find. Firstly we had the joy of sitting in roadworks in Chesterfield for 15 minutes or so. Then we found out that we were in the wrong lane and on getting into the correct lane we had the pleasure of receiving some manic arm flailing gestures from the muppet behind the wheel of the car who wouldn't let us in. The following car let us in however so there are one or two nice people in Chesterfield or then again maybe he was like us just passing through this dump.
Derbyshire is a weird place. It is very scenic and has some nice stuff to look at but it isn't the easiest of places to drive around. We did actually have all the technology to find the ground with ease. However Felice had forgot to bring his sat nav and Lees i-phone wasn't playing ball. So it was left to me and my trusty outdated phone to find us Buxton's ground. I managed to get the directions to Buxton's ground up and after a couple of wrong turnings due to factors beyond my control we pulled up at Buxton's Silverlands ground at about 2.25pm. Some first class parking maneuvers from Mr Delcolle saw us bag a prime parking spot mere metres from the turnstiles.
The entrance fee today was a reasonable £7 with a decent programme selling for £1 which was in my view excellent value for money. Although the page reliving the League Two relegation battle from last season wasn't exactly what i wanted to read on a nice sunny day. Quite a few Macclesfield fans had made the short journey over from Cheshire for this one and quite a few were taking advantage of the fact that you could take your beers outside to watch the match. Given this fact some of you may be shocked to learn that i only had one pint throughout the match. Well it was £3 a pint and i am never a huge fan of plastic glasses at the best of times. The Clubhouse was a reasonable size though and smart enough.
Buxtons ground has a real old school feel to it and i quite like it. There is a large terrace area at the clubhouse end and a large seated stand to your right which is covered all the way down only leaving the far end uncovered. There is a cracking little souvenir shop from which i purchased a club badge (£3.50). Along with the club crest badge i picked up a pair of Derbyshire cup final badges; 2011 and 2009 for £2.50 and £1 respectively. Lee rummaged through the old programme boxes and ever found some bargains. Next port of call was the food hut and as ever it didnt take Felice long to get stuck into the burgers and he seemed happy enough with the food on offer.
Although Macclesfield have two former Imps on their books those being Natt Brown and Paul Morgan neither played today. I over heard a Macc fan saying they had a game Friday night (A 5-3 away win at Parkgate) so it could have well been a case of splitting the squad between the two games. Paul Morgan was at the game however and for me you can trace Lincoln's downhill spiral to the fact that we never replaced him in the heart of defence at the end of the 2006/07 season. We haven't had a leader and organiser at the back who has anywhere near his ability since then.
Before the match a minutes silence was held for Keith Alexander and Richard Butcher from Macclesfield (And Lincoln) and for Brian"jasper" Goodwin and Colin Harrison of Buxton.
There is a three division gap between the two sides on show today and for the most part it showed. Buxton did well holding their shape and closing Macc down but never really managed to get much going themselves apart from the odd attack here and there. Macc did at times knock the ball around quite nicely but it was from set plays that they looked most deadly.
Buxton will be disappointed with the first goal however which came from a corner and was headed in at the back post by Shaun Brisley. He connected well with it and sent it directly to the keeper, but somehow it got through. The defender on the line will maybe feel he should have done a tad better, but its better to get this sloppy defending out of the way in pre season before the league action starts.
The second goal arrived about ten minutes later and was again from a header. This time in open play. A cross deep on the right from Tom Fisher found Carl Tremarco all alone at the back post about 8 yards out and his header found the back of the net via the underside of the bar. Again Buxton will look at the defending and ask why Tremarco had so much time and space as the whole defence had been dragged to the right. I am pretty sure that if he had wanted to he could have brought it down and had a shot instead of heading it. No more real chances were created, Buxton did have a bit more of a go at Macc but that's how the first half ended
0-2
We decided to take in the second half from the seated stand and the view in there was decent enough with plenty of leg room.
Both sides made changes for the second half with Buxton changing about half the team. It looks like Buxton are another side who look like they haven't got enough new shirts yet as the players who came on different shirts on to the ones who started the first half. Macclesfield made it 3-0 with a hatrick of headers. This one though was by far their best goal. Again it came from a corner when Tony Diagne rose above the defence to power a bullet header into the net at the near post.
Buxton actually scored the best goal of the afternoon with about 8 minutes or so to go when Sam Johnston curled a shot in from the edge of the box which gave the Macclesfield keeper no chance at all. I am glad that the homeside got on the scoresheet as 0-3 seemed a bit harsh as the game had been one of few chances.
Former Lincoln assistant manager and now Macclesfield manager Gary Simpson will be pleased with this workout and Buxton will take heart from the second half display and be pleased with the size of the crowd.
All in all Buxton is a nice old style kind of ground and one i would thoroughly recommend visiting. As long as you can find the place.
Admission £7
Programme £1
Badges £7 (For three badges)
Beer £3.00 a pint of lager
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