Bucks boss says half-time changes were key to opening day win

​Luke Brennan got them off to a perfect start with the opening goal under a minute into the match, before Connor Kirby hit the winner in the second-half.

And McGrath told the club’s media that whilst the points were welcome, the performance wasn’t as good as he might have hoped for.

He said: “We started on fire, obviously, with Luke’s goal but in my opinion I didn’t think we got going and we were a bit nervy.

"Fair play to Radcliffe, they came with a game plan and worked really hard, so it was a good game but I think overall we probably just edged it.

"Radcliffe were very good in the first-half and very much on the front foot. They were aggressive with their press and passed the ball really well, so credit to them.

"We made some tweaks at half-time to how we play and in the second-half we did get in the final third a little bit more, whereas in the first-half we were starved of possession for Luke, JJ and Callum.

"But that’s credit to Radcliffe who had two good front men who held it up and midfielders who were industrious.

"But the tweaks at half-time worked well so I’m really pleased with it.”

Buxton were also forced into a goalkeeping change at half-time due to an injury to new signing Joe Young, with Paul Cooper replacing him and impressing in the second-half.

McGrath added: “Coops was fantastic. I said it was probably one of the difficult decisions in pre-season in terms of who’s going to be in the net because they were both excellent pre-season.

"But that’s why we have him. Joe had a bit of a groin strain and we didn’t want to risk him so we got Coops on and he did really well."

Buxton now prepare to hit the road this weekend as they visit Marine, before they then host Hereford next Tuesday.