Triumphing 1-0 over York City of the National League North in last weekend’s FA Cup First Round tie, Buxton FC will now take on Football League opposition in the Second Round of the competition.
Credit: Buxton Football Club
By Amos Murphy
Drawing Morecambe of League One in Monday’s FA Cup draw, the Second Round tie will be Buxton’s first match at this stage of the competition in the club’s history.
Diego De Girolamo’s second-half goal was enough for the Bucks to progress past sixth-tier York, with their only other appearance in the First Round coming all the way back in 1962.
Much to the delight of the 1,000 strong travelling contingent of Buxton supporters, Saturday’s victory represented one of the biggest stories from a rather underwhelming weekend of FA Cup action for non-league sides.
All eyes were on ball number 25 for the Second Round draw, where Buxton were pulled out of the hat first, before being paired with Morecambe.
Buxton Director and Club Secretary David Brindley has welcomed the club being drawn at home and has reacted positively to being matched with a Football League side:
“A home game is good for the fans and it would be great if we can have the television cameras down as well”.
Fellow seventh tier side Bowers & Pitsea had been left frustrated over missing out on the £50,000 provided through television coverage in the First Round, after the all-League One stalemate between Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle was preferred to their match against Lincoln City.
Whilst details surrounding the Second Round television picks will follow the conclusion of next week’s scheduled replays, Brindley is already looking ahead to the match:
“Arrangements for attending the Morecambe game cannot be finalised until the precise date and time are known, but we expect it to be a sell-out”.
As a former Northern Premier League side themselves, Morecambe are well acquainted to Buxton, yet the pair haven’t met since the Shrimpers were promoted to the Football League in 2007.
Bucks captain Josh Granite has expressed his excitement ahead of coming up against a Football League team:
“It’s great to have a home draw against higher league opposition. The lads will be up for it and fancy their chances”.
Buxton have got off to a flying start in the league this season, having gone unbeaten in their 14 league games, with promotion the target for recent managerial arrival Steven Cunningham.
Granite recognises the importance of their league campaign, stressing attention will not be diverted away from securing promotion:
“We’ve got five league matches before the Morecambe game, four of them at home. They are what we will be focused on for now”.
The Bucks are seven points off Matlock Town with four games in hand on their Derbyshire rivals, with the Morecambe tie set to take place on the weekend commencing Saturday 4th December.
Users must be 18+. If you are having trouble with gambling then help and advice can be found at begambleaware.org. Please Play Responsibly.
