BUCKLAND Athletic went toe-to-toe with Torpoint Athletic on a cold, windy Wednesday night at The VX3 Stadium and the spoils were shared.

For the hosts, it was a case of “a point gained” with manager Matt Cusack commenting: “Delighted with the point and on reflection, on the balance of play of the two halves, a draw is probably a fair result.”

It was Torpoint who started on the front foot, giving Buckland very little time on the ball and regularly driving into the final third.

The opener came at the other end though, Jack Baxter being given far too much space and taking up the invitation to advance. His shot from range was deflected beyond Ryan Rickard and into the bottom corner, courtesy of a deft Toby Pullman touch.

There was then a golden opportunity for the division’s top scorer Ryan Bush to double the Buckland lead, but he was unable to trouble Rickard with his header from close-range.

“We back him to score those most days,” said Cusack, he continued, “We would have been asking Torpoint some serious questions had that gone in.”

For a brief moment, Baxter thought that he had found the second goal after hammering home an Isaac McCue cross, only for the offside flag to deny the forward.

On the night, neither side were best pleased with the refereeing, Buckland seeing some decisions go against them whereas Torpoint frustrations grew at the gamesmanship of the hosts.

Goalscorer Pullman was tripped once when driving forward and the offender was booked, the scenario repeating itself later in the half, only for the Buckland man to be carded for an alleged dive.

“He was very quick to book Toby in transition first half when he was trying to break, he got the goal earlier on. He wants to push forward again but it has been deemed that he’s deliberately fallen over in the middle of the park, an absolutely bizarre decision that I’m not happy with that at all.”

It remained 1-0 at the break in a cagey half of football, Buckland edging it in terms of chances and on the scoreboard as well.

Cusack was forced into a substitution early on in the second half, Coby White replacing a hobbling Jeremiah Achina who had put in a good shift at fullback.

After another couple of half-chances for Pullman and McCue, the tide changed and Torpoint took control.

A poor Buckland clearance was pounced upon and the prolific Curtis Damerell, having scored a late winner on the weekend against Street FC, made it one apiece.

This was just the beginning of a wave of pressure and he may not have known much about it but a vicious effort was kept out by Bush’s face, denying Torpoint a quick-fire second. With the forward back on his feet a few minutes later, play resumed and it was the turn of Myles James to make a crucial stop on the goal-line.

Not before Cusack himself was carded though, another decision that baffled those in the Buckland dugout.

The manager said, “Height has never been my super strength. The ball bounced over my head and into the stand. Our steward has collected the ball, handed it to me and I’ve handed it to the player.

“The referee has deemed I should have done that quicker somehow. I should have just left it. I’m really frustrated with that. There were a few questionable decisions from the man in the middle truth be told.”

Two further changes saw Bush and Baxter give way for new signing Josiah McKayle and youngster Roger Williams. The latter hit the ground running, showing great feet to trouble the Torpoint defence and win a couple of set-pieces.

There were plenty more big decisions to make, the ref remaining unmoved as Scott Pocock went down in the penalty area after receiving close attention from a corner, not for the first time either.

Cusack had no objections to the two quickfire yellows shown the way of White as he saw his side reduced to 10 men.

He said, “Yes it probably was a red, two late tackles. But he’s already done 90 minutes (a national cup semi-final for his college side) today which goes to show his character.

“We didn’t want to bring him on as early as we did but we were without Rafael Beadman due to illness and so we’ve put Jeremiah in, whose coming back from a long-term knee injury, he got 50 minutes tonight and 60 on Saturday, he broke down.

“Coby’s tackles were probably two tired ones, no complaints from me on the red card but that then means we play 10 minutes with 10 men against a team battling for the title, they put us under pressure and we stood up to it.

“I’m pleased about that, we had to show a different side to it and ground out a positive result.”

It really was a grind in the final knockings, a couple of scrambles saving Buckland as well as a superb, athletic stop from Andrew Sowden-Bird.

Reflecting on an eventful evening, Cusack said, “We said to the boys, any positive result, a draw or a win, we’ll take it tonight.

“With Sidmouth slipping up last night as Saltash, it was an opportunity to move away from them a little bit, we know that we’ve got the goal difference as well which is worth another point really.”

He continued, “We’ve got 12 points left to play for and I think we probably will need between seven or nine is my prediction. Any which way they come, that’s what we’re aiming for.”

The journey continues on Saturday with 18th-placed Oldland Abbotonians visiting Newton Abbot, before the Bucks then host promotion rivals Paulton Rovers on Tuesday, March 31.