Buxton 3rd XV 0, Wilmslow 50

It was back to the bad old ways on Saturday as Buxton Thirds crashed to a 8 try to nothing defeat. It all began promisingly with the tight five exerting pressure on their opposite numbers and for five minutes Buxton were dominating both territory and possession. A steal from the lineout saw Cavanagh drag a couple of defenders with him but unable to sustain possession the move died out. Another Buxton attack resulted in quick turnover and Wilmslow fired the ball out to their wings who blasted past the cover defence to open their account. This seemed to drain Buxton and Wilmslow capitalised with a couple more tries, and effectively the match was dead as a contest. Allen stood out in terms of effort and was always driving at the heart of the defence, but the opportunities for possession were few and far and with Buxton's defence leaking like a sieve, it was a relief when they limped into half time. 33 – 0 adrift. The second half saw some changes in personal but Wilmslow scored another couple of quick tries before the Thirds woke up. Suddenly they began to want the ball and with Chapman and Rabbits securing the ball at the breakdown, Edge and Stratford found them selves with options. With five minutes to go Buxton launched a sustained attack and the ball was switched to Nichols. He made it to within a yard of the line and Sneddon racing up in support was just unable to hold the pass for what would have been a certain try. Buxton ended the match with a series of energy sapping drives that left the Wilmslow defence scrabbling to keep them out and one had to wonder why the Thirds had left it so late to start playing rugby.

On Saturday they travel to Crewe and Nantwich and with key personal absent they will need to start playing from the start if they are to turn their fortunes around.

Training on Tuesday 6.45pm up at the club.

Buxton were:

MacDonald, Rabbits, Fussell, Cavanagh (Dilworth), Rose, Dilworth (Sneddon), Allen, Henderson (Chapman), Preece (Edge), Stratford, Ritchie, Gardin, Nichols, Burton, Bennison (Packer) Woodward, Craig.

Apres Match

Man of the Match - Chris Allen, no contest really his was the standout performance

Fuck up of the day - Fussells throwing in at the lineout