First-half v Buxton - Caspar Hughes fights for the ball in front of The Swansway Stand (1)

Nantwich Town suffered more home woes after being beaten 3-1 by Buxton at The Optimum Pay Stadium on Saturday, writes Jack Beresford.

Two defeats in a week now leaves the Dabbers firmly in a relegation battle third from bottom on just 27 points.

The visitors began on the front foot and they had their first opportunity after just two minutes.

Former Derby and Nottingham Forest forward Jamie Ward cut in from the right and his curled effort forced a good save from Matty Gould.

Ten minutes later, The Dabbers had a chance of their own as Shaun Miller crossed from the right side, but it was inches too high for Joe Malkin who failed to get a good connection.

Despite not seeing much of the ball in the early exchanges, The Dabbers took the lead on 20 minutes.

Malkin and Miller linked up nicely on the edge of the box before Miller curled a fine strike inside the far post.

First-half v Buxton - Shaun Miller beautifully curls his strike into the far corner for the Dabbers (1)
Miller beautifully curls his strike in against Buxton
First-half - Shaun Miller celebrates his goal with teammates (1) (1)
Shaun Miller celebrates his goal against Buxton

The Bucks looked to hit back straight away as Ward once again took aim from distance but his shot was poor and it bobbled wide of the post.

Five minutes after the break the visitors had their best opportunity as Heaney got in behind.

But as he closed in on goal, Gould rushed off his line to close the angle and and save well.

Ten minutes after the break, Heaney was at the heart of the action as he was pulled down in the box by Bell and the referee pointed to the spot.

Ward stepped up and saw his penalty saved but the rebound fell kindly, and he blasted home the equaliser.

Six minutes later, Buxton had another penalty as they caught The Dabbers on the counter.

Gilchrist was tripped by Gould and once the again the referee pointed to the spot.

This time Ward stepped up and made no mistake sending the keeper the wrong way.

All of a sudden, the momentum was with the visitors who looked to add more to their tally to put the game to bed.

Second-half - late Connor Heath shot on goal is adjudged to be off-side (1)

They came inches away from a third when Chris Dawson took aim from 25 yards and crashed a strike off the upright.

With ten minutes of the game to go, Buxton sealed the victory.

Mackenzie Heaney had been The Bucks stand out player in the second half, and he scored a deserved goal when his long-range strike took a deflection and looped over the helpless Gould into the net.

After, Nantwich Town assistant manager Jay Bateman said: “We’re really disappointed.

“The first half we looked good. Shaun Miller scored a great goal. We said to the lads at half-time that they have to keep going.

“Sometimes the half time break kills you.

“When you’re playing really well, but we said to the lads that the first 15 minutes of the second half is crucial and within 16 minutes we’re 2-1 down after conceding two penalties.

“It’s a difficult one to take. To be fair to Buxton they changed their shape at the break and we didn’t cope with it like we did in the first half.

“They had a back four first half but when they changed to a three at the back, they had more joy down the flanks.”

(Images courtesy of Jonathan White)

Second-half - Joe Malkin wins the header (1)

First-half - Joe Malkin gets the ball (1)

One Comment

  1. Time for a management change, we have lost too many players to local rivals, these have been replaced by a lot of on loan players, the result has been easy to see, a very unsettled side and a shadow of the team of the last few seasons.
    Nantwhich need to act quickly to stabilise the ship, or I fear the worst.

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