Poor First Half Damages Athletic

Buckingham Athletic lost their third in as many games when they travelled to Southall for their twelfth game of the season. This time however, it was their heaviest defeat of the season as a 5-1 romp saw them plummet to twelfth in the league, but still only four points off the top three. The recent league results seemed to be picking up but the recent disappointments of being dumped out of two cups have hit their confidence in the league now as well.

The games was always running away from them as a poor first half left them 3-0 down at the break, something Buckingham were not used to as the defeats they have have this season have typically been by the odd goal. The second half did lift the side slightly as a better performance was on show, but it was not going to be enough to mount a comeback.

The Ath seemed to find a goal back early on, however, the goal was given offside and it just seemed like it wasn’t going to be their day. The club were given a lifeline when they got a penalty, which saw Sid Hawkins slot past the keeper, for his fifth goal of the season. Under 18’s forward Nathan Tshikuna was making his debut for the first team, and came close to finding a goal which would have seen a hectic end to the game, but the defender did exceptionally well to deny the youngster.

The hosts then ran away with it when they caught Buckingham on the break to make it 4-1 and Southall inflicted further pain to the visitors when they managed to lob keeper Lewis Dench from the half way line to make it 5-1. Mark Carter was reluctant to complain as he admitted “though the scoreline was a bit harsh, they deserved the three points and if they carry on in that form they will be up there at the end of the season.”

Buckingham Athletic now look to rebuild when they return home to host Harpenden Town on Saturday, aiming to climb the table, but Harpenden are in good form having lost one game in the league this season and have just beaten Arlesey Town Reserves 6-0, it could be another tough game.