Football: Slimbridge run out of steam in defeat against Buckland Athletic

Slimbridge 0 Buckland Athletic 3

PLAYING their third game in a week on another heavy pitch and their first at Wisloe for a full three months due to the weather, it was perhaps not surprising Slimbridge ran out of steam against Buckland Athletic.

It was a tired display from the home side, who had worked hard in their previous two games to pick up six valuable points at Ilfracombe and Odd Down.

In a scrappy and disjointed game, Buckland took an early lead in the 12th minute with a deflected shot from Gavin Hammon, and led 2-0 at the break following Simon Revell's strike seven minutes before half-time.

The visitors' victory was sealed on 66 minutes when Michael Booth notched the third.

It was telling that the Swans' only shot in the game came after four minutes, Liam Harding blasting high and wide after good work from Jack Twyman.

The visitors went close on 11 minutes, when Simon Revell's run and shot drifted just the wrong side of the post, but Buckland took the lead a minute later – the ball fell to Hammon in the Swans penalty area, and his shot took a deflection on its way past Dave Evans.

On the half hour, Evans made two good saves to keep out efforts from Booth and Ellis Laight as Buckland continued to boss the game.

Eventually, the pressure told and the Swans were caught by a quick break, Hammon setting clear Simon Revell, who beat Evans easily to double the advantage.

The second half was more of the same.

After Kai Fisher had gone close with a header from a corner that went just over, Booth latched onto another precise through ball and slid the ball past Evans to put the game to bed.

Fisher went close again on two occasions before the close of the game, producing two saves from Evans, and in the final minute, Carl Roles hit the bar with a piledriver that deserved better.

In the end, the Swans could have no complaints, and can start looking forward to the visit of Sherborne Town on Saturday (3pm).

Slimbridge: Evans, Hoyle, Robinson (Stevenson 74), Sterling, Thornton, Twyman, Turner, Harding, Chandler (Kinnear 72), Fenner (Ward 48), Fahy.

Star man: Alex Hoyle.