Sherwood Colliery battle back to take Buxton to FA Cup replay

A bumper crowd packed into Debdale Park as Sherwood welcomed the Northern Premier League leaders.

Unsurprisingly Buxton settled the better of the two teams and dominated the early possession, with ex-Stag Lindon Meikle pulling the strings in midfield and the threat of Warren Clarke and Tommy Elliott causing some problems.

Buxton pressed the ball high up the field looking to break forward from dangerous positions and the Sherwood back line worked tirelessly to keep the Buxton front line at bay.

Light relief after 10 minutes saw the assistant referee leave the field to replace a broken flag after defending himself from the ball.

Buxton eventually took the lead in the 27th minute but from controversial circumstances.

Jobe Shaw looked to have been initially fouled by Elliott, but the referee awarded the free kick to Buxton after Shaw pulled the midfielder back. The resulting free kick delivery was good, and Clarke found space to force the ball home to give Buxton a deserved lead.

Sherwood responded well and The Wood midfield started to get on the ball and looked to release the lively Tim Gregory and Gareth Curtis.

Liam Theakstone was impressing on his return to the side and The Wood began to make some inroads. Half time came with no addition to the score.

The second half exploded into life, Buxton forward Ash Chambers doubled the visitors lead after 51 minutes, scoring at the back post after a period of Buxton pressure.

Most observers would probably now expect the high-flying Buxton to manage the game, but the Wood had other ideas and replied almost immediately.

Will Norcross managed to find some space on the left wing and delivered a superb ball for Theakstone to head powerfully past Theo Richardson. The crowd were now having a massive affect, and it was no surprise when Gaz Curtis turned in Jamie York’s pass to level the tie after 64 minutes, capping an excellent spell of play by Sherwood.

Buxton, despite massive league experience, were clearly rattled and Tim Gregory almost forced home a third goal as the Buxton back line creaked. Gradually, the visitors settled and started to press.

Tom Elliott forced an excellent save by Josh Turton, who turned Elliott’s drive onto the post. At the other end, Norcross saw a curling effort dip just wide as Sherwood continued to look very dangerous on the counterattack. Sherwood had a massive appeal for a late penalty-kick waived away that on another day could easily have been given but overall a draw was probably about right.