Steve Chettle saw his Basford United side beaten 3-1 by Buxton on Tuesday night, with a former Nottingham Forest man putting his team to the sword.
Jamie Ward spent four years at the City Ground, having signed on a free transfer from Derby County.
His time at the club was littered with niggling injuries, much like his career on the whole.
Now, he finds himself turning out in the Northern Premier League, hoping to help Buxton reach the Conference North next season.
Basford went into Tuesday’s game in tremendous form. They had lost twice in their last 13 games in all competitions and beat South Shields away on Saturday.
Brad Gascoigne netted inside the opening two minutes to get Basford off to a flyer.
Ward, however, was in the mood to hit some form and showcase the fact that he’s not long out of professional football.
His first came after some sloppy defending. The 35-year-old picked the pockets of the Basford defence before slotting under Adam Collin between the posts.
His second saw him fire goalbound from a corner and via a defender it ended up in the back of the net.
What has Ward being doing since leaving Forest?
After leaving the Reds in 2019 he signed for Scunthorpe, although that move didn’t prove overly fruitful.
Last season, he hooked up with Solihull Moors in the National League. He scored three times but injuries once again meant he managed just 21 appearances.
Now, he finds himself at Buxton and he’ll hope to use his experience to fire them to promotion.
The former Northern Ireland international made 62 appearances for Forest, scoring five goals.
Although he wasn’t overly good during his time at the City Ground, he did do a job when he stayed fit.
Sadly, that was all too infrequent and he’ll probably be more fondly remembered by Derby supporters.
Buxton are among the favourites for promotion from the Northern Premier League this season.
With ex-Forest player Ward banging them in, it’d take a brave person to back against them reaching the National League North this season.
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