Dan Clark

Blog: It is always satisfying to see how much we have achieved over the last few months, writes AFC Telford blogger Dan Clark.

Playing against our old Blue Square Bet North rivals Alfreton Town gave us a good indicator of our achievements. Considering they were comfortable champions last year, it was pleasing to see us playing better than them.

Yes, it was only a 1-0 win and it wasn’t the most exciting game, but it was a win and we deserved it. There were scrappy periods in the first half where it looked like we wouldn’t get anything. But there were also times that mirrored how we have been playing recently against the ‘bigger’ teams, which was exciting to see.

We named an unchanged side again which, in my opinion, is a great move. The continuity is starting to show benefits. Our 12 attempts at goal came from a Telford side that looked like they are starting to know each other well. Their defence could not cope with us at times and we kept exploiting the wings, only missing chances through Jon Adams and Phil Trainer.

When we went in at half time in deadlock, there was a bit of frustration around the ground. We played so much better than them but we weren’t pushing hard enough for a goal.

It did come in the second half though, with Chris Sharp using great strength to dispossess the defender and slot past Lowson. Sharp is now showing himself to be a great asset for this club and I hope that his goals continue. The fact that he has kept Proudlock out of the team as well has shown that there is now hard competition for a place up front.

There were times where Alfreton tried to reply, hitting the crossbar from a free kick, but they didn’t pose much of an attacking threat. They did have the referee as an advantage throughout the whole game. He gave some very poor decisions in their favour, but Alfreton failed to capitalise on that. They do miss the players that they sold in the close season and look like a side who will be in the relegation scrap towards the end of the year.

After the full whistle was blown after five minutes added on, it was a great relief to get a vital three points. It pushes us up to 13th and unbeaten in four games, which can only be a positive thing.

Next up is Hayes and Yeading, who have been playing well this season and we’ll do well to beat them. But we are starting to look like we have eradicated the lapses of games past and are now playing some exciting football.

Let’s hope we can keep up this bit of form we have.