Town were asked to make the 120 mile midweek round trip to leafy Buckingham for a league fixture following two Saturday postponements at Stratford Fields earlier in the campaign and perhaps unsurprisingly arrived less than half an hour before the scheduled kick off time due to traffic difficulties.

A blood and thunder opening on a cold night saw the early skirmishes just about even with both sides making forays into the opposition half of the field without creating any clear cut opportunities.

Daniele Quattromini made a trademark run leaving defenders trailing in his wake and was unfortunate to see his shot go just wide of the mark. Buckingham then had a good opportunity themselves that produced a good save from keeper Paul Williamson who had replaced regular keeper James Noonan in the side.

Town had a let off when Williamson failed to collect on the edge of his area and the ball trickled past the far post with the net gaping, much to the relief of Town’s players and connections in the sparse crowd.

Town were huffing and puffing without giving any indication that they were about to blow the Buckingham house down and the home defence were doing a good job in keeping the prolific Richard Lucas at bay. The teams went in even at the break following an entertaining first period.

The second half started as the first finished with both sides going at each other hammer and tongs, Referee Mr Chidley was being surprisingly lenient when other officials may well have brandished yellow cards like confetti. Both keepers were having busy evenings without really having to pull out all the stops however on the 68 minute mark the deadlock was finally broken when Lucas collected the ball out on the left before embarking on a penetrative run and unleashing a fierce low drive that flew into the back of the Buckingham net.

Town were fortunate to escape immediately following the goal when Buckingham proceeded to hit the bar with a well timed lob with Williamson off his line. With Town trying to defend their lead with fifteen minutes left on the clock a forward was harshly adjudged to have been upended in the box and Mr Chidley pointed to the spot. Dave O’Dell stepped up to the mark and sent a crashing drive to Williamson’s right, indeed the Town keeper made an excellent attempt and may have got a finger tip to it.

The game continued in somewhat of a cat and mouse fashion with both sides afraid to make the mistake that would give the other the points, in the end the honours were shared in what was a fair outcome to the pulsating contest.

Town Team: Williamson, King, R Quattromini, D Quattromini, Kanaris, Butler, D Dawson, Stanfield, Lucas, Ellis, Zanre.

Sub: Noonan

Buckingham Team: Reynolds, Howkins, North, Dedman, M O’Dell, D O’Dell, Hodges, Dart, Booden, Bennett, Prentice.

Subs: Hammond, Simonds, Dickinson

Referee: Mr J Chidley (Flitwick)

Assistants: Mr K Leach (Bicester), Mr V Micallef (Dunstable)