A stirring second half fightback may have lifted the mood at AFC Telford United, but it could not completely erase the memory of a truly awful first 45 minutes.

Rarely will the Bucks play so badly, and it is no exaggeration to say that Hinckley could have been four or five to the good by the interval.

There was little to suggest the two they had managed would not be more than enough, so credit has to go to Telford boss Rob Smith for somehow inspiring a response from his hitherto misfiring maestros.

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In the end, the hosts could – and probably should – have gone on to actually win it, even though they finished with 10 men after Carl Rodgers got his marching orders late on.

But that would have been harsh on Hinckley, and Smith was certainly not about to let his team off for their Jekyll and Hyde performance.

“Players are switching on and off, and that’s unforgivable at a club like this,” he declared.

“I said to them afterwards that when you go from a place like this you don’t get the chance again – it’s gone.

“You go on to play at the Nuneatons, the Bedworths, the Chasetowns. No disrespect to them, but it’s not like Telford and you should do everything you can to stay at a place like this.

“If you can switch it on and off like a tap, then there’s something wrong in your character. I was so annoyed about that.”

Hinckley completely dominated the first half and it was no surprise to see them slice their opponents open on two occasions.

The first goal came from Andy Hall’s corner, which created havoc in the Bucks box.

Former Telford man Richard Lavery’s header was blocked on the line by Lee Vaughan but Connor Franklin followed up to score. Already reeling at that set-back, the hosts suffered further woe on 17 minutes when they had to re-shuffle after Jimmy Turner was forced off with a side strain.

Midfielder Phil Trainer came on, with Carl Rodgers dropping back to plug the gap at the heart of defence.

The visitors continued to look the more likely after that and Neil Cartwright stung keeper Ryan Young’s hands before Adam Webster headed inches wide.

The warning signs were there and the second duly came nine minutes before the interval, when Cartwright’s long-range effort took a heavy deflection to leave keeper Ryan Young heading the wrong way.

Adam Webster could have piled on further agony before the half-time whistle offered the battered Bucks to take sanctuary in the changing room.

But they emerged for the second half a different team, with two substitutions to shake things up.

Jon Adams had already put one header over when Lee Vaughan pulled one back after a period of sustained pressure.

Andy Brown then had an effort blocked while Danny Carey-Bertram, one of the half-time changes, blasted wide after running clean through.

The lively Steve Torpey earned the chance to equalise when he was tripped in the box by Stuart Giddings, and Brown made no mistake from the spot.

At that point, Telford looked to have all the momentum, but a couple of missed chances and a few controversial refereeing decisions conspired to go against them.

Match official Andy Garratt managed to anger the home bench several times throughout the evening, though boss Rob Smith was careful not to make any rash calls on the decision to send off Rodgers six minutes from time for an alleged stamp on Lavery.

“If Carl Rodgers has stamped on someone then that will be so out of character,” said Smith. “We’ll have a look at it and if he’s done it we’ll accept the three-game ban.

“But if the referee got that one right, it was the only thing he did get right all night.

“He’s normally a decent referee but that was a shocking performance – though I can’t complain too much because he was only as bad as us in the first half.”

By James Garrison