Boss Rob Smith today promised to make “harsh decisions” as he comes to terms with AFC Telford United’s play-off heartache.

The Bucks went down 1-0 at Gateshead in last night’s Blue Square North play-off final to miss out on promotion to the top flight of non-League football.

Smith admitted it would be difficult to come to terms with the setback, but has already started to think about re-shaping his squad over the summer.

“We need to freshen it up,” he said. “We need to make some harsh decisions because we haven’t quite been good enough.

“First of all me and Larry (Chambers, the assistant manager) need to have a chat.

Move quickly

“Everyone else can go on holiday but this is the busy time for us and we have to move quickly.

“We have to pick ourselves up and get over this, but it’s going to be hard.”

A Wayne Phillips free-kick eight minutes from time settled the final as Telford finished the game at the International Stadium with 10 men, following Lee Vaughan’s dismissal. The right-back was booked twice in 13 minutes.

Around 1,400 Bucks fans made the 450-mile round trip – the kick-of being delayed 15 minutes to cope with the numbers trying to get in – and Smith was fulsome in his praise for them as well as his squad.

“I’m immensely proud of the lads,” said the Telford boss. “I’ve nothing but praise for what they’ve given me this season.

“We couldn’t have given any more and I’m just absolutely devastated for our supporters that we couldn’t finish it off.

“I’ve never seen a more deserving set of supporters than that, and all I can say is that we gave it our best and we fell short.”

Telford’s defeat came in the 66th game of a gruelling season that also saw them win silverware in the shape of the Setanta Shield, as well as having good runs in the FA Cup and FA Trophy.

Smith admitted that gruelling schedule had played its part in derailing their promotion challenge.

“You could see us physically tiring last night and I think it all caught up with us,” he added. “Once the sending off happened, we had no chance.

“I don’t think we could cope with another season like this in terms of the number of games though, that’s what killed us in the end.”