Two goals before the break and a further one in the second half saw FC United slump to a disappointing 3-0 defeat as an impressive eight game unbeaten run came to an end at Buxton's Silverlands stadium. A strong, well organised Buxton side controlled the game throughout finishing off two well-worked moves in the first 30 minutes and adding a third through leading goal-scorer Mark Reed less than ten minutes from time. Prior to kick off, a minute's silence was held out of respect for the late Keith Alexander, manager of Macclesfield Town who passed away suddenly during the week. Following Kyle Wilson's recall to Macclesfield, Joe Yoffe and Ben Deegan headed up the United attack, with Kyle Jacobs returning to his place at right full-back. The early stages of the half saw fairly even play, with both sides looking to claim the opening goal. Reed came close for Buxton, firing a shot from a tight angle across the face of the United goal. Minutes later, a swift link up between Carlos Roca and Yoffe saw the striker in a good position to go forward, however he was narrowly beaten to the ball by the advancing Scott Hartley in the Buxton goal. On 17 minutes, Kieran Lugsden broke the deadlock. The ball was crossed from the left side, headed across the United area and buried in the top corner from six yards by Lugsden. FC United then had the chance to go forward. A decent Phil Marsh delivery from a free kick on the right wing forced Hartley to stretch to tip the ball over at the far post, denying the Reds in what was perhaps one of their few clear-cut chances of the game. As the half wore on, Buxton pressured the United defence and were first to the ball on the majority of occasions. The home side soon increased their hold on the game through Lee Morris who picked up the ball from the right at the near post and skilfully swept the ball across and past Sam Ashton with the deftest of touches. Trailing to a two goal lead, FC attempted to lessen the damage, and had reason to appeal for a penalty towards the end of the half. An interchange of passes between Deegan and Yoffe saw Deegan weave his way into the area, and attempt to shoot from a tight angle. The United striker was closed down near to the dead ball line, and claims of a Buxton handball were dismissed. As the first period came to an end, scorer Morris was replaced by Cayne Handley, who'd had a brief spell with FC in the 07/08 season. A final burst of pressure saw Buxton head the ball off the line from a Roca follow-up shot on goal, and the home side's defence remained resolute to retain the lead. New signing Adam Karim made his United debut as a half time substitute, replacing Mark Ayres in the centre of defence. Ayres again was a positive for the Reds, with another encouraging performance but had taken a strong knock during the first half and clearly could not continue after the break. FC United went in search of a way back into the game, and could have done so through Roca. Deegan played the ball over top to United midfielder, who had made an intelligent run through the Buxton defence. Roca was unlucky to be denied a chance to go one-on-one with the keeper, with Hartley just beating him to the ball to clear. Just past the hour mark, the Reds made a double substitution, introducing Adriano Rigoglioso to proceedings to replace Yoffe upfront. Angelos Tsiaklis also came on to make his first appearance for the club, as a direct replacement for Roca on the wing. Buxton threatened to increase the score line as Sam Ashton went to collect a ball into Reed at his left post. The United number one couldn’t hold onto the ball and the home side could have profited, if not for a clearance from the ever-reliable David Chadwick. Substitute Tsiaklis made an impression on game, going for goal from the edge of the area, firing in a strong effort, unfortunately straight at the keeper. A well worked move on the right from the former Wrexham midfielder saw Tsiaklis send the ball into Cotterell who forced his way into the area, unfortunately to no avail. The home side cemented their hold on the game wrapping up a resolute performance with their final goal in the 83rd minute. Leading scorer Reed broke the offside trap and unleashed a powerful shot past Ashton into the bottom corner, consolidating a strong team performance. The home side had the upper hand for large parts of the game and were ultimately the better organised of the two sides with FC looking like a team in transition following the addition of several new faces in recent weeks.

The Reds, without a game in midweek, can work on settling the new lads in and will now need to recover for next weekend's visit of Durham City.

Free Red - seriously mate, we can read the official article from the MEN. Maybe you should start your own FC website and supporters can go there to read your "recaps". Don't lose heart my fellow FC'ers, we still have games in hand!!

Match Preview. United aim to bounce back against basement boys! After Saturday’s disappointing defeat at Buxton, FC United will be looking to get back to winning ways when they take on the league’s bottom club Durham City at Gigg Lane on Saturday afternoon.

The Reds travelled to Buxton last Saturday with an eight game unbeaten streak but were well beaten by the Bucks in a game that saw United fail to get on the score-sheet for the first game in seven after scoring 17 goals in six games. Karl Marginson’s side will know the importance of bouncing straight back to winning ways when Durham City visit on Saturday. Margy will be looking for his players to react to this defeat and look to build confidence up as they have a run of three big games in just over a week after Saturday’s game. Saturday’s opponents should not be overlooked but United know they should be winning these types of games before they face Matlock, Hucknall and Bradford in an eight day run which will surely define where the remainder of the season will go.

Despite the expectation, it’s important to keep focussed and everybody knows the potential banana skin of playing against players who could be playing in front of the biggest crowd of their careers so far.

Back to the task in hand - Durham City. The club was originally formed in 1918 but after being denied re-election to the Football league in 1928 ended up folding in 1938, before being reformed in 1950.

The Citizens played in the Northern League from 1952 winning the league title in 1994 and again in 2008. The latter giving them promotion to the NPL first division north; which they managed to win at the first attempt gaining promotion to the Premier Division for the 09-10 season.

But the club has struggled to replicate that form of last season and having had a sponsor withdrawal at the beginning of the season saw an exodus of first team players, leaving the team to field youngsters for most games this season.

The Citizens were cruelly dubbed “the worst team in the country” by BBC 1’s Football Focus in February. The programme may have been better focussing on the club’s problems and the commitment of the young players and loyal fans who have turned up game after game even though the club has lost all 28 of its league games this season, showing the true meaning of the word commitment in the game.

The club’s problems got worse when they were deducted six points for fielding a suspended player under a false name, which saw both the player and manager Lee Collins suspended for 15 games.

The club currently prop the league table up, with no wins from all 28 league games and have conceded 137 goals in the league this season.

But FC United fans will know the team are no push over as it took the Reds until the second half to break the deadlock when the clubs met in January, with United only managing to take home a slender 2-1 victory in a hard fought game.

The Citizens have lost five games by just the odd goal this season, all of which were at home. The club’s defeats have been a lot worse on the road where they have lost ten games by four goals or more, including their biggest defeat of the season at Boston United where they lost 10-0.

In their last game, The Citizens went down 4-1 at home to Boston United, although they managed to pull back an early goal to be at 1-1 with the high flying Pilgrims before conceding on the stroke of half-time.

Saturday’s game is the usual 3 o’clock kick off, with admission priced at £7.50 for adults, £5 for concessions and £2 for kids. So get yourself to that football ground and cheer the Reds back onto the winning trail.

keep up the great work Free Red

Great work?? Ridiculous!