Ten men FC United fight back to claim point at Buxton

FC United rescued a priceless point with a 1-1 draw at second placed Buxton on Tuesday night as captain Dean Stott equalised from the penalty spot after Matthew Wolfenden had been controversially sent off.

The Reds fell behind to the high flying Bucks after just nine minutes and things went from bad to worse five minutes before half-time when Wolfenden saw red for the first time in his career for a poorly timed challenge.

However, the perceived injustice of the sending off seemed to galvanise Karl Marginson’s side and they dug deep to gain a draw. The Reds were handed a lifeline 14 minutes into the second half when there was a handball in the box and Stott made no mistake from the spot.

The Bucks started the brightest and took the lead when Liam Hardy broke down the right wing. His cross evaded all in the FC defence to find Jamie Green at the far post who drilled the ball past Dave Carnell. A minute lather the lead could have doubled when Leigh Franks saw his header saved at point blank range by Carnell.

On 21 minutes, FC saw sight of goal when a break by Matthew Wolfenden found Matthew Kay but he fired high over the bar. Five minutes later Wolfenden had a glorious chance when he headed a Craig Lindfield cross wide when wide open.

With five minutes remaining in the half, Wolfenden was involved again when he lost possession. His attempt to retrieve the ball saw him commit a clumsy, late block tackle, the type you see a few times in a game usually punished by a caution. On this occasion, the reaction of the home players to the tackle, coupled with the fact Wolfenden had just lost the ball saw Mr Ward produce a red card. The fact that a Buxton player remained on the field of play, despite striking Wolfenden, compounded the FC sense of injustice.

It was this injustice that saw FC come out a different side in the second half. They were on the front foot from the start of the half and the ball was mainly in the Buxton half of the pitch.

The pressure was rewarded in the 59th minute when a corner was played in and saw Aaron Jameson pull off a great double save. As the ball was returned into the box, it struck a Buxton hand and the official had no doubt in awarding the spot kick. Skipper Dean Stott stepped up and sent Jameson the wrong way to equalise.

As the game wore on, Buxton did create a few chances, the best one to Mark Reed who saw his deflected shot somehow palmed away by Dave Carnell.

It was a great battling point for FC especially playing much of the game with nine men, the second half display making the point a well deserved one.

Steven Wood

Man of the match- All ten players deserve an accolade for the second half showing but Lewis Lacy takes this award for staying calm in the first half and some quality defending in the second.