A splendid Diego De Girolamo goal after 18 minutes and an all-around positive first half performance by Buxton at Chorley in the Vanarama National League North (Tuesday December 12) fell away after the break as the home side twice took the lead and ran out 3-2 winners, to move up to fourth in the table.
Will Bapaga was sent off for an off-the-ball incident just before half-time, unsettling the Bucks' rhythm, although Chorley also went down to 10 men, with Jack Sampson picking up a second yellow card after 45 minutes.
Diego's goal was cancelled out by Mike Calveley in the 28th minute, Carlton Ubaezuonu gave Chorley the lead from a corner just after the hour, Jake Wright restored equality, also from a corner, in the 74th minute, but Mark Ellis produced what proved to be the winner with 10 minutes left. Buxton's first half promise was nullified by increasingly attack-minded Chorley as the game progressed. Full Report HERE
Team manager Craig Elliott expressed his disappointment at the result and was unhappy with the standard of refereeing.
He said: "It is never nice to lose games of football. I thought we were excellent in the first half and we might have gone on to win this one, but the dynamics changed after half time.
"Chorley are good at set pieces. However, they use blocking tactics and the referee should have stamped it out. I find it incredible that he did not do so. Instead, Chorley scored twice from corners.
"You have to take it and move on. Hopefully we will come back quickly, helped by the continuing return of players from injury. They'll make us stronger and more consistent."
On Saturday, the Bucks visit Spennymoor Town, kick-off 3pm.
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