AFC Telford United renew one of non-League football’s oldest rivalries tonight as they look to extend a five-match unbeaten run at home to Northwich Victoria.

Northwich and the old Telford United were both founder members of the Conference — then known as the Alliance Premier League — back in 1979.

And their membership was to be unbroken until Telford went bust and reformed three levels lower as AFC in the summer of 2004.

The Bucks will be bidding to build on Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Harrogate Town – but are likely to have to try and do it without leading scorer Andy Brown.

He took a blow to his ribs for the second successive game against the Yorkshire side and will probably make the bench at best this evening.

Tonight’s clash comes before a run of league games against four of the top six sides in the Blue Square North – with trips to Alfreton and Eastwood followed by home games against Droylsden and Southport.

“It was nice to get our first home win and we’d like to go on a run now,” said assistant manager Larry Chambers.

“We know we’ve got some tough games coming up and it’s important we back up our victory over Harrogate.

“I still thought we were wasteful on Saturday and could easily have had three or four goals, but the performance was a big improvement.

“We tried to get the lads to play with freedom and express themselves.”

Northwich, who should include former AFC Telford striker Mark Danks in their ranks, started the season with a 10-point deduction after going into administration.

That means they go into tonight’s fixture second-from-bottom, ahead of a Farsley Celtic side who suffered a similar fate.

Midfielder Jon Adams (hamstring) is fit for the Bucks after coming through unscathed from his short substitute outing at the weekend.

But Carl Rodgers will be missing as he serves the second of a three-match ban.

By CHRIS HUDSON