Telford players celebrate their goal.

A shocker for Workington but a treat for AFC Telford United’s delighted fans.

Halloween turned out to be anything but scary for the Bucks as Phil Trainer popped up to stun the visitors two minutes from time.

It was no less than Telford deserved, and whatever demons have haunted them for much of this season finally seem to have been exorcised.

• Pictures: Click here

Rob Smith’s side created a catalogue of chances and refused to panic as the clock wound down.

In the end, it was Trainer who ghosted in to score after keeper Tony Caig had saved Andy Brown’s header from a Sean Newton corner.

Newton’s corners, particularly out-swingers from the left, had been a rich source of chances for Telford all afternoon.

Indeed, it was from another of these that the Bucks thought they had gone ahead on 13 minutes.

It was Cowan who got on the end of this one as well, the ball squirming under the body of Caig.

Everyone in the ground could see the ball had crossed the line – by a good foot, according to fans nearby – except for the one man who mattered: referee Steve Bennett.

Thinking

It would have been a bitter blow had that error cost Telford the victory, though Newton – fresh from a signing an18-month contract – insists they were always confident the goal would come.

“Maybe earlier on, before the Blyth and Worcester FA Cup games, we’d have been thinking in the back of our minds: Are we going to score today?” he said.

“But to me it just seemed like we knew we were going to score this time, so we just kept on going.

“Maybe our heads had dropped in recent weeks, whereas now everyone’s at the races and performing for each other. We’re doing really well at the moment, I think.”

The chances certainly kept coming after ref Bennett’s howler, and the hosts must have been asking just how they were not ahead at the interval.

Andy Brown – hailed by manager Smith as giving the best performance he had ever seen by any player in a Telford shirt – could easily have opened the scoring on the quarter of an hour as he found himself one-on-one with the keeper but failed to convert.

Brown then set up a chance for strike partner Danny Carey-Bertram with a peach of a through ball, but the forward’s shot was disappointing.

Brown and Lee Vaughan also shot into the side-netting, while Caig held on to another Cowan header.

Workington had their only real spell of pressure around the hour mark, though they did carve out two glorious opportunities.

First keeper Ryan Young showed inactivity had not stifled his concentration as he produced a fine save to deny Phil McLuskie.

Then Callum Ruttledge got on the end of a cross from the left but, completely unchallenged, put his header wide.

Relieved at those let-offs, the hosts were soon back to the business of peppering the Workington goal.

Brown had his header from yet another Newton corner nodded off the line by Gari Rowntree, and the striker then saw a follow-up effort deflected wide.

Newton forced Caig into another save off a free-kick from just outside the right edge of the box as time ticked away. But, just as time seemed to be running out, Trainer made his mark.

“I don’t think anyone in the ground could say we didn’t deserve that,” said boss Smith. “The whole performance felt a lot more like last season – strong and dominant.

“Workington are a dogged side as they’ve proved in their performances this season, but I always felt we’d get one.”

By Chris Hudson