Sat. 23rd February. Toolstation Premier Div. Buckland Athletic 1 Westbury United 0
Westbury made the long journey to Buckland Athletic and returned home with nothing to show for their efforts following a 1-0 defeat.
United made one change to the side that had beaten Cadbury Heath 7 days earlier, with Dan Jordan coming back in following injury to replace the suspended Stevie Hulbert.
Buckland came flying out of the traps and were dominating the game, with Westbury looking to counter attack. Buckland went close to scoring early on, but Ed Baldy made a good save and then at the other end, a couple of Buckland defenders managed to block Ricky Hulbert’s effort. That was as good as it got for United in the first half, but at the other end, Westbury were indebted to Baldy who made a couple of outstanding saves. As the half came to an end, Baldy saved a rocket of a shot but couldn’t hold onto the ball and he was harshly adjudged to have fouled the striker who was following in. The Buckland striker confidently put the penalty away to give his side the lead.
Managers Neil and Joe Kirkpatrick made a double substitution at half time, with Josh Ferguson replacing Callum Demkiv who had been ill all week and Ben Griffiths replaced Jason Henley who had picked up an early yellow card.
United were much brighter in the second period and dominated possession and it was Buckland who were now playing on the counter attack, and again Baldy made a couple of outstanding saves to keep his team in the game. Unfortunately Westbury couldn’t find a way through a resolute Buckland defence and were denied a last minute penalty when Dan Kovacs was blatantly fouled at a corner. That being said, Buckland were worthy winners and Westbury will be keen to bounce back with two home games coming up.
Man of match Ed Baldy.
