Buntingford Town 4 Met Police Bushey 2 TOWN moved to within a point of second-placed Bedmond Sports in the Herts Premier Division with an impressive victory. The visitors had a lot of the possession, on Saturday, but Town were more threatening in front o

Buntingford Town 4 Met Police Bushey 2 TOWN moved to within a point of second-placed Bedmond Sports in the Herts Premier Division with an impressive victory. The visitors had a lot of the possession, on Saturday, but Town were more threatening in front of goal and both teams could, and probably should, have added to their final tallies. After an even opening period, Met Police began to settle with better use of the ball and Town a little careless with their normally efficient passing game. The first clear chance came after 14 minutes and brought the opening goal for Met Police. A long free-kick down the left eluded full-back Barry Lynch and Ryan Shorto's flat cross was expertly flicked in at the near post by Peter Killick. Stunned by the goal, the hosts were lucky not to concede again just seconds later when Shorto picked up a loose ball and curled a 20-yard shot that was superbly tipped over by Town keeper Kieran Fox. Town were gradually working their way into the game and after 21 minutes Chris Moule's flat corner was met by Lee Ridings 10 yards from goal, but his shot was cleared off the line. In a carbon copy of the previous week, Town changed deficit into a lead within two minutes on the half-hour mark. First, a quick passing move down the right involving George Garner, Gary Christie and Carl Smith ended with Smith crossing superbly for a defender to convert under intense pressure from Moule. During Town's next attack, a half-cleared corner found Carl Smith and his darting run ended with another flat cross for Duncan Easley to smash in from eight yards. With Town gaining the upper hand they added a third three minutes before the break when Mark Smith's through ball found Carl Smith. His pace and precise finish past the advancing keeper was to be expected with his recent goalscoring record. The second half saw Met Police gain control on the game with some very efficient passing and movement, with Buntingford surprisingly sitting off and allowing the easy advancement into their defensive third on numerous occasions. Resolute defending from the whole team with some controlled organisation really kept the visitors' attempts at a premium, with any shots many coming from long-range and not testing Fox in the home goal. With 20 minutes remaining, Garner ran clean through on goal from Dave Morbin's through ball but blasted wastefully over. Then Easley mis-kicked a close-range volley just wide following a Garner corner. With 17 minutes left, Police reduced the deficit when Ryan Shorto's left-wing cross-cum-shot looped over Fox into the far corner. But Town restored their two-goal advantage minutes later when Smith's burst of pace into the box saw him crudely brought down and he blasted the resulting penalty low past the keeper's right hand for his ninth goal in five outings. Smith was unlucky not to get a hat-trick when he hit a post just before the end but the Town's fourth goal had knocked the stuffing from their opponents and they were able to play out the final moments with relative ease for their fourth straight win. Buntingford: K Fox, B Lynch, D Chaffey, J Babbage, D Easley, M Smith, L Ridings (D Cain), G Garner, G Christie (R Wilmott), C Smith, C Moule (D Morbin). Unused subs: T Wisson, M Roach. - Town host league leaders Whitewebbs, on Saturday, and will be aiming to be the first team to do the double over them this season.