In their white shirts, black shorts and change white socks the Bucks had the look of the great Telford United team of the early 1970s.

Their performance too, would have brought back happy memories for fans of an older generation, who twice saw Jack Bentley and co reach Wembley in the FA Trophy at the start of that decade.

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Fitting then, that one member of that famous side – former half-back Graham Carr – was there to see the 2009 model produce an admirably determined performance to move within two ties of a trip to the national stadium.

Bentley has a goalscoring record the likes of which will surely never be matched again.

Yet, had he been alive to see it, he surely would have appreciated the hard-working display and impudent finish of match-winner Danny Carey-Bertram, whose current goals-per-game ratio would stand favourable comparison with the great man – admittedly over a few hundred less games.

The former Hereford player’s deft flick off Lee Moore’s shot on 23 minutes proved to be the only goal of a gripping High Noon encounter.

It was so deserved, as well – the Poppies were out-fought and out-thought from first whistle to last, to leave their manager reflecting on a third cup exit in a week and a half.

Telford’s squad had been hugely depleted – Danny Edwards and Phil Trainer were cup-tied while strikers Terry Fearns and Andy Brown were both injured. All four might have expected to be in the match 16 under normal circumstances.

Maximum

Boss Rob Smith squeezed the absolute maximum out of what he did have at his disposal though, and Kettering were almost completely out-played.

The Bucks did their damage in the first half, causing havoc down both flanks with their short, sharp passing which had the Poppies tackling thin air.

Carey-Bertram went close with an early lob and Liam Blakeman had a goalbound effort blocked by some desperate defending by John Dempster.

Such was the Blue Square North side’s dominance that it was no surprise when they took the lead after another fluent move down the left.

Kettering, meanwhile looked like a shadow of the side that gave Premier League Fulham such a scare in the FA Cup just a week earlier.

Mark Cooper suggested his team had found it easy to motivate themselves for that glamour tie but could not do the same for the ‘harsh reality’ of a non-League game.

If that is true then it reflects poorly on the Northamptonshire men and explains the outcome – because there is no way Telford were looking upon the last 16 of the FA Trophy as being in any way ordinary or harsh.

Even in the second 45 minutes, when they spent most of the game on the back-foot, they never looked like conceding an equaliser.

Their defensive determination started from Carey-Bertram at the front, who closed down every man, and spread right through the team.

Lee Vaughan was magnificent on the right, but skipper Stuart Whitehead was the pick of the bunch.

He is a man who has tasted the glory and the agony of a Wembley final in the FA Trophy, playing for the Kidderminster team who led Stevenage 2-0 at half-time two years ago, only to collapse to a 3-2 defeat.

His inspirational display on Saturday smacked of a man determined to get a second bite of the cherry and ready to give every ounce of energy to make that dream a reality.

The Poppies never managed a strike of note on Ryan Young’s goal. A Frankie Artus free-kick and a late Jean-Paul Marna drive, both fired straight down the keeper’s throat, were the best they could muster.

Telford opportunities after the break were few and far between, though Jamie Vermiglio might have doubled their lead, but there can be no-one who doubts they deserve their place in the quarter-finals.

Now if they can navigate their way through just two more rounds, it will not just be the kit that draws comparison with those heroes of almost 40 years ago.