Match report by Chris Hudson
On a wet and miserable afternoon, AFC Telford United offered their fans a much-needed bit of sunshine with only their second away win of the season.
It was certainly not a day for the faint-hearted at Victoria Park, the rain starting 20 minutes before kick-off and then pounding down for the next hour-and-a-half.
The Bucks rose to the challenge though, producing a much-improved performance that elevated them back into the Blue Square North play-off positions.
The major talking point of the afternoon was boss Rob Smith’s team selection – with Lee Vaughan, Jon Adams and Lee Moore all relegated to the substitutes’ bench.
The trio have done little wrong in recent weeks but Smith felt he needed his bigger, more physical players for this challenge – a decision he later described as a mistake.
One selection that could certainly not be criticised though, was that of new loan signing James Meredith from Shrewsbury.
The Aussie 20-year-old has seen little action this season, but didn’t let it show with a decent display on the left flank, with the Bucks having reverted back to their tried-and-tested 3-5-2.
Meredith even had the ball in the net in the first half, reacting well to divert in Andy Brown’s mishit shot, though the effort was rightly chalked off for offside.
Despite a pretty forgettable first period, Telford could reflect on a number of decent chances to open the scoring that went begging.
They were screaming for a penalty after 10 minutes as Terry Fearns went down under a Dave Roberts challenge, and the Bucks bench were still seething with referee Steve Oldham’s refusal to point to the spot even as the teams went off for the break.
The Scouse striker went down rather easily, but there was certainly contact and less obvious penalties will be given this season.
Brown looked like breaking the deadlock on 16 minutes as Meredith’s cross was nodded back across goal by Martyn Naylor, but the striker’s goal-bound header was superbly cleared off the line by Ryan Bowen.
The best chance of the half, however, came in the first minute of injury-time, Fearns finding space at the far post to get on a cross from the right but taking his eye off the ball and fluffing his lines in embarrassing fashion.
Smith’s reaction was to bring on his other new face at the interval, striker Danny Carey-Bertram replacing Emeka Nwadike in an aggressive move by the Bucks.
It paid dividends, with Carey-Bertram proving to be a real thorn in Burscough’s sides.
The Linnets might actually have taken a surprise lead on 56 minutes when Brian Moogan crossed and Tony Evans slid in at the back post but failed to connect.
And five minutes later the tide turned inevitably in favour of the visitors.
A Naylor free-kick somehow made its way through a sea of bodies to reach Brown at the far post.
He rather scuffed his shot but did enough to get it past Moogan and inside the upright to open the scoring.
Within two minutes the lead should have been doubled, Indy Khela somehow failing to convert from four yards for a miss every bit as amazing as Fearns’ earlier in the game.
Liam Blakeman, playing against his former club, also had a golden opportunity when played clean through, but opted to pass when the shot seemed on and the chance was gone.
Carey-Bertram continued to cause problems with his direct style though, and fully deserved a goal for his efforts.
It seemed he would have to go without, the closest he came being when he rounded the keeper late on but shot into the side-netting from a tight angle.
But he finally got his reward in the third minute of stoppage time as he collected Fearns’ pass and turned before lashing in a quality finish.
Telford’s reward was a big dose of new-found confidence. They must put it to good use at home to Solihull tomorrow.
A win would not only extend their unbeaten run to 10 games, but add another shot of belief to an improving side.
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