Disappointing end to 2025 as Worksop Town are sunk at Buxton
Worksop Town were left frustrated as they signed off 2025 with a first defeat in five league games, beaten 3-1 by Buxton at the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium on Tuesday night.
Manager Craig Parry said: “We’ve got to be disappointed with ourselves because we’ve come away with zero points and looking at the chances, we’ve got to be disappointed.
“We started really brightly, Lewis (Whitham) goes through in the first 10 minutes and their goalkeeper makes a good save, and then after 20 minutes we switch off and give away a penalty, which I don’t think was a penalty.
“Over the 90 minutes, I can't fault the performance. We dominated in certain parts of that second half, but we’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The Tigers began the contest brightly and almost made the perfect start inside the opening 10 minutes.
Vaughan Redford slipped Lewis Whitham through on goal with a well-weighted pass, but the winger was unable to beat Joe Young, who stood firm to deny the one-on-one opportunity.
Worksop were nearly punished moments later when a loose clearance fell to Luke Brennan, yet his first-time strike drifted narrowly wide of the post.
The breakthrough came on 18 minutes when Buxton were awarded a penalty after Ben Grist was judged to have fouled Adriel Walker on the edge of the area. Brennan stepped up confidently and rolled the spot-kick past Lewis Forshaw.
Buxton grew into the game from there, with Tate Campbell firing a speculative effort just over the bar, before doubling their advantage on 32 minutes.
A corner to the back post was met by George Ward, whose header found the net to make it 2–0 at the break.
Worksop responded positively after half-time and pulled a goal back on 47 minutes.
Grist’s long throw caused problems in the box, and Aaron Martin flicked the ball over the goalkeeper to reduce the deficit.
The Tigers pressed for an equaliser, coming close when Jordan Burrow headed just wide from Grist’s inviting cross.
However, as Worksop pushed forward, Buxton delivered a decisive blow.
Connor Douglas fired a low ball across goal, and Walker swept it into the bottom left corner to restore the two-goal cushion.
Tigers will now aim to start 2026 on a positive note when they travel to the Deva Stadium to face Chester on Saturday.