This may have been the calm before the storm to come – but Telford began arguably the most demanding 10 days in the club’s history with a morale-boosting win.

Starting tomorrow evening, they will be playing every other day for the next eight days – a sequence sure to test their promotion credentials to breaking point.

They can at least go into that gruelling run of games in good spirits after a valuable win over a Gainsborough Trinity side who are rather limping towards the finish line.

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The Lincolnshire outfit have now gone eight without a win and have found Telford to be something of a bogey side this season.

The Bucks have beaten them twice in the league as well as knocking them out of the Setanta Shield and the FA Trophy.

Maintaining that record was the perfect antidote for Rob Smith’s men, who had so tamely slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Farsley Celtic last Tuesday.

Smith had lambasted his side very publicly for that performance but was much happier with the immediate response as they ran out worthy winners at The Northolme.

They hit the woodwork twice, saw two efforts cleared off the line, and bossed the game for most of the afternoon.

Indeed, they could have gone ahead inside 60 seconds when Jon Adams found space inside the box and forced Adam Sollitt into an immediate save.

The best early chances all fell the way of the Bucks and they might have been ahead on 21 minutes when Liam Blakeman released Ricky Sappleton with a quick free-kick.

The on-loan Leicester man reacted well but his shot was not hit cleanly and Nathan Peat was able to block it on the line before Sollitt was called into action again to deny Andy Brown on the rebound.

Carl Rodgers was the man to finally break the deadlock on 27 minutes, turning and firing in on the turn off a cross from the left.

The advantage could have increased in the following 10 minutes as well with a number of chances going begging.

Lee Vaughan went close to celebrate his club record 134th appearance with a goal as his powerful volley came back off the post.

And Khela might have done better off a Danny Edwards corner, his effort at the far post cleared off the line.

The hosts did see more of the ball at the start of the second half but rarely looked like breaking down an organised defence.

All that changed 20 minutes from time though, as Khela was caught out by a through ball to Luke Beckett and brought the experienced striker down with a mis-timed tackle to concede a penalty.

Keeper Ryan Young threw himself right to superbly keep out England ‘C’ international Lewis McMahon’s spot-kick, but Simon Bird reacted quickly to fire in the loose ball from a narrow angle.

Given Telford’s recent results away from home on difficult pitches, that goal might have signalled a collapse.

Instead, they responded in determined fashion, Adams hitting the crossbar with a looping header.

Then, just two minutes later, they went one better as Adams found Blakeman in space and the midfielder gleefully stabbed into the bottom corner to put his side back in front.

It was a victory that also saw an end to a troubling injury jinx that had hit the Bucks twice at Gainsborough.

Captain Stuart Whitehead twice, defender Jimmy Turner and former striker Gary Birch have all picked up serious injuries at this ground in the last two years.

Whitehead was so concerned about his record at The Northolme that he was rested from the 16-man squad this time around.

It was a gamble that paid off, and it had to. With the likes of Alfreton and Stalybridge also winning, Telford needed the points badly.

They got them and remain on course to contest the promotion play-offs.

By Chris Hudson