Match report by Chris Hudson

It is a week that culminates in one of the biggest games in AFC Telford United’s history – yet this dire display has deflated much of the excitement.

The prospect of a Wembley appearance in the FA Trophy remains a rather juicy carrot dangling on the horizon if they can just get past York in the semi-finals.

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But the Minstermen’s boss Martin Foyle – taking in his second consecutive Telford fixture – must have left with his hopes high ahead of the first leg.

The Bucks certainly showed little of the resilience and character that saw them beat Southport with 10 men in the quarter-finals of the Trophy.

Hosts Vauxhall Motors struck early with two quickfire goals then hit cruise control as the Bucks stalled badly in their quest for promotion.

Talk of going up as Blue Square North champions now looks the preserve of only the most myopic of supporters – and even the play-offs are far from guaranteed with the likes of Stalybridge, Alfreton and Harrogate grouped ominously just behind them.

Hamstring injury

The Bucks have been hit by injuries – and their problems only got deeper last night as joint top scorer Danny Carey-Bertram hobbled off after just 14 minutes with an aggravated hamstring injury.

Yet that can be no excuse for a performance lacking passion or belief against a limited but plucky home side who simply seemed to want it more.

It was a disastrous start for Telford, who found themselves two goals down inside six minutes – and both down to frankly shocking defending.

Right-back Jimmy Turner found himself out of position for the first and keeper Ryan Young committed himself far too quickly as Karl Noon the accepted the gift.

Gavin Cowan did his best to clear off the line but could not get there in time.

The second was more slack work as a ball came in from the right, with Noon in space again.

This time Young was able to make a clearance – but only straight to the feet of Lee Furlong, who needed no second invitation to slot in.

The injury soon after to Carey-Bertram only added to the black mood engulfing the travelling contingent, though the introduction of Lee Moore did bring some spark.

From there, the Bucks enjoyed a 15-minute purple patch where they created a glut of opportunities without getting any lucky break.

Moore set up a decent chance for Cowan, whose header came back off the bar.

Moments later, midfielder Phil Trainer tried his luck from 30 yards and his fierce drive was acrobatically tipped over by keeper James Coates for a corner.

From that set-piece Emeka Nwadike saw his close range prod hooked off the line by Jordan Holmes.

At that stage the Shropshire side looked on the brink of a comeback but then lost their way in the quarter of an hour leading up to half-time and never truly threatened again.

Boss Rob Smith responded with a tactical change at the interval, Jon Adams replacing Jimmy Turner as the Bucks switched to a 3-5-2 formation.

Yet there was still a disappointing lack of opportunities as Telford prodded and probed without drawing Coates into meaningful action.

Adams and Mark Danks both had shots blocked while Liam Blakeman saw a well-struck effort deflected for a corner.

The introduction of Carl Rodgers gave more impetus to the midfield but there still never appeared to be any real likelihood of an equalising goal materialising.

And the Motormen held on with relative ease to leave Telford’s title chances hanging by thinnest of threads.

The Bucks dropped a place to fourth in the table as a result of this setback, with rivals Southport winning at Harrogate.

With just a dozen league games left, time is running out to put together that magic run they need to get back in contention – and their poor results against the division’s lesser lights are being to look very costly.

Suddenly the Trophy looks their best chance of meaningful success to show for what has been such a promising season.

They will have to step up several gears from this showing to keep that particular dream alive.