WE ARE BUCKLAND: GO COMPARE!

U9 Bullard, Homer's Heath, Tuesday September 21

BUCKLAND ATHLETIC…13

MARLDON…3 (16-3 AET)

BUCKLAND’S early-season goal fiesta continued against a talented and sporting Marldon team on a night of mixed fortunes for the home team.

On the up side, records tumbled as Buckland recorded their highest-ever goals tally with 16 breathtaking strikes. Seven of those went to the outstanding Harry, who bettered Beck’s previous individual high of six set in the season opener at Broadmeadow.

Harry was in imperious form in the centre of midfield, and he deservedly shared the player of the week award with Jamie, who put in arguably his finest shift yet in a Buckland shirt. Jamie was strong in the tackle, quick to cover and his distribution was first class.

But the rest of the team were not to be outdone – Daniella grabbed her first goals for the club, one with a wicked deflection and another poacher’s strike from Georgia’s lob. Georgia also grabbed two goals, opening her account for the season, and Hamish marked an excellent debut with a brace.

Beck, sporting his fabulous new Adidas F50 boots, took his season’s tally to eight with two well-taken efforts, meaning he is currently averaging a goal every 10 minutes. Not even Ken ‘Waggy’ Wagstaff could match that in his Hull City heyday.

The scoreline was further enhanced when Declan scored arguably the goal of the game, unleashing a Roberto Carlos-style free kick into the top corner from 20 yards.

Josh replaced the absent Gabriel in goal and played a full part in the victory. No keeper in the world would have stopped Marldon’s goals, all of which were top-class strikes. Later, when Beck took over between the sticks, Josh was desperately unlucky not to put his name on the scoresheet.

The excellent performance of fast-flowing football was tempered by news of an ankle injury to Joey, who was forced to come off after just 10 minutes and now faces at least two weeks in plaster on the sidelines.

But there was worse news for Buckland when it emerged that the club is the subject of a full-scale investigation by the football authorities into the circumstances of the re-arrangement of the fixture. The game was originally scheduled for Sunday morning but was switched at short notice for reasons which were not made public.

Allegations subsequently came to light that Buckland joint manager Paul had made the switch as it clashed with a male bonding session in a local licensed premises he had arranged.

The alarm was raised last Friday night when Paul’s cohort Darren took a call from the league secretary during a board meeting taking place at the Wolborough Inn, which Paul had failed to attend. It is understood the league issued Darren with a dire warning as to the possible consequences.

Today Paul was unapologetic, insisting he had nothing to answer for.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I feel we are being unfairly singled out. I know for a fact that if one of my managerial contemporaries like Jose Mourinho needs to rearrange a Real Madrid match because he wants to go to the pub with his mates, nothing’s ever said about it at UEFA or FIFA. But when I do it they throw the rulebook at me. There just ain’t no justice in this world."

Darren insisted he was fully behind his managerial colleague. “Paul quite rightly draws a parallel between himself and Jose Mourinho,” he said. “In fact only the other day, one of our fans stopped me in the street and compared Paul to the Real Madrid boss. He said ‘compared to Mourinho, Paul’s absolutely rubbish’, and you can’t say fairer than that".

Buckland goals: Harry 7, Beck 2, Georgia 2, Hamish 2, Daniella 2, Declan 1

Players of the week: Harry and Jamie