McKayle hits hat-trick as Buckland Athletic fly through

JOSIAH McKayle was amongst the stars for Buckland Athletic as they ran up a seismic scoreline in the St Luke’s Challenge Cup preliminary round on Wednesday, September 23.

The forward bagged a hat-trick against Crediton United with manager Matt Cusack describing them as “three very well-taken goals.”

He continued: “I’m really pleased for him, he’s had to bide his time and wait for his moments. I’ll always back Josiah in a 1v1 with the goalkeeper, his finishing is terrific.”

Prior to kick-off at The VX3 Stadium, there was a minute’s applause to remember “Long-term supporter and Saturday Morning Crew member” Frank Burley, who sadly passed away a few days prior.

It wasn’t too surprising to see the trio of Jack Baxter, Sammy Stayt and Isaac McCue running this game from the get-go.

When Baxter drew the Crediton goalkeeper out and squared it to McCue, it looked as if the opener had arrived but the latter’s shot was cleared off the line.

McKayle was the man to break the deadlock with 15 minutes on the clock, converting from Kai Swann’s cross.

A quick-fire second followed and Swann was involved once more. His shot was mishandled by Lewis Slade, going up and over for a corner, from which McCue went short to Baxter who curled in from the edge of the area.

The home side continued to drive forward with purpose but at the other end, Crediton halved the deficit. They “were allowed to win the first and second contact” and it was Brad Butterfield who finished off the set-piece.

With the referee clearly keen to let a lot go, there was a seemingly nasty challenge from either side in a matter of minutes. First Myles James wiped out his opposite man and then McCue was scythed down at the knee, both of which would earn a yellow card at least on another day.

Buckland were able to restore the two-goal lead before the break, Tom Amado working really well between the lines before setting Stayt away. The in-form forward’s shot cannoned off of the post but McCue was on-hand to tap in amidst calls for offside.

There was a quiet spell in the second half which drew to a close with a second goal for McKayle.

McCue’s delicate dink put Stayt into plenty of space and he drove to the byline before pulling it back into his striker’s path.

The former Exmouth Town man was the architect once more, McCue sliding in McKayle who then remain composed to notch his first hat-trick for the club.

Slade made two really smart stops to keep out the tricky McCue first, McKayle’s subsequent shot being blocked on the line and then the ‘keeper denied Baxter shortly after.

For Cusack to be able to turn to Ryan Bush to see out the game was quite the luxury, much to the frustration of a tiring Creddy defence.

He picked out the bottom corner to make it 6-1 and he also headed in the eighth, courtesy of another dangerous cross from Swann.

In between Bush’s brace was something quite spectacular. Just minutes after McCue had tried and failed to lob Slade from 30 yards out, substitute Charlie Madden took aim from within his own half and found the back of the net with his weaker left foot.

The final chance saw Bush turn down the invite to feed McCue, instead going alone but curling his hat-trick seeking strike narrowly wide.

Credit should go to the visitors as “they ran their hearts out for 90 minutes” in the words of Cusack and the late flurry of goals perhaps doesn’t tell the full story.

Buckland’s boss also said: “We were disappointed with the goal we conceded but I thought we played some cracking football on the night.”

Given just how difficult the Jewson Western League is, it begs the question- in which basket will the Bucks put their eggs this season?

Cusack noted that “We went out at the first hurdle [of this competition] last year” and “When we’ve been as starved of success as we have as a club, for a little while now, I don’t think we can be picky over which competitions we do well in, we have to attack every single one of them.”

Looking ahead now and Buckland make the trip to The Tannery Ground to face Street FC on Saturday (Sept 26) before then hosting Tavistock AFC on Wednesday 30.

“Street have always been a tricky team for us. It’s always a difficult place to go and I will say that I’m delighted we’re going there on a weekend this time around.

“They’re always a well-drilled outfit, well coached, we need to get back on the saddle after last weekend against Clevedon.

“Tavistock will then be a different proposition, obviously there’s a bit of upheaval at the club at the minute. Ear to the ground, we’re not sure what sort of Tavistock team will come here but we’ve got to be ready to take the three points from them because they took them off of us on the opening day.

“They are two big games, we’ve got a big month with lots and lots of games but we’ll take them one at a time, starting with Street.”