Defiant boss Rob Smith today insisted AFC Telford United’s Wembley flame was still burning – despite their first leg failure in the FA Trophy semi-finals.

The Bucks went down 2-0 at home to York City on Saturday, leaving them needing to launch a stirring comeback at Kit-Kat Crescent in the second leg at the weekend.

York are now odds-on favourites to reach the national stadium and Smith admitted they deserve their lead – but he refused to raise the white flag.

“You never know with football, if we get one in the first half then they might wobble a little bit. We’re not out of the tie, that’s for certain,” he declared.

“I’m disappointed because we fell short, but the better team won on Saturday and I’ve no complaints on that score.

“Their professionalism killed us, but I can’t fault the effort of the players. We gave it a go and that’s all I asked for.

“There wasn’t much end product but we showed some commitment, which is what has been lacking a little bit.

“Selection problems are still going to be a headache next Saturday, and we’ve got to go to Blyth before that tomorrow and try and get three league points.

“My focus now has to be on that because the league has always been our priority. We will start thinking about the Trophy again on Wednesday.”

Telford’s task might have looked a little more inviting had Lee Moore’s second half strike been allowed to stand.

Moore’s effort was ruled out by referee Steve Cook, to the shock of almost everyone inside the New Bucks Head, for an alleged foul on York keeper Michael Ingram.

And it left a fuming Smith to add: “He had it in for us from the first minute and that was an unbelievable decision – everyone in the ground knew that.

“I’ve never known a set of officials that were so arrogant. We scored a legitimate goal and it would have been nice to go up there at 2-1, but he was a joke official.”

• Striker Matty Lewis was on target for loan club Hednesford as they ended a run of six consecutive defeats in the UniBond League with a 3-0 win at Marine on Saturday.

By CHRIS HUDSON