The secrets behind AFC Telford's play-off final triumph

After suffering a heart-breaking 1-0 defeat to Leamington at New Bucks Head in 2024, the Bucks bounced back 364 days later with a 4-2 victory at Kettering Town.

And Rowe explained why a lot of thought went into the pre-match preparations, with last season’s mistakes proving to be crucial learning curves.

“Obviously I wasn’t around last season, but I spoke to Katy (Cooke) our sports psychologist and it felt like this year we were going there to win, whereas the year before there was a bit more doubt and pressure on the lads,” he began. “Without wanting to sound arrogant it felt like we’d already won when we got there with the mentality that the lads had, it was just calm and relaxed.”

Rowe continued: “The gaffer and Noons (Mark Noon) both asked me what the lads wanted to do. Last year they did a pre-match meal and got to the ground really early which were different things to their normal routine.

“This year after speaking to all the lads I just said to (Wilkin and Noon) that last year was a bit excessive and the game was built up too much for what it needed to be, so we just went in with the mindset of it being any other game.

“I reiterated that to the gaffer so that’s how we treated it, and it allowed everyone to deal with it in their own way, because everyone is different.

“If we did a pre-match meal every week before a game I would’ve said do it again, but there was no need to change things just for one game and thankfully it worked.”

Another crucial part of Telford’s pre-match routine for away games involves a number of players travelling on the team coach, and the Bucks captain explained that regardless of where they were travelling from every member of the team was to board before arriving at Latimer Park.

“The plan was for all of us to travel on the coach one way or another,” he said. “Some lads got on at Coventry, some lads got on at Walsall and some even got on at Kettering.

“As long as we all got on the coach and travelled in together it made sure we were a group when we arrived.

“The coach was fairly normal. Everyone was eating, talking about the game. I was asking a few of the lads how they were feeling and they all said they were fine and that it was just another game. We had that fearless approach.

“Personally I was absolutely fine until we got into the changing room and then I started feeling it a little bit, but I stood out on the pitch longer than everyone else and took in the atmosphere and visualised how the day would go.”

There was change to the usual preparations though, as Rowe and other senior figures within the dressing room devised a plan to ensure the burden of leadership was spread among a number of different players and positions.

“One thing we did try that was a little bit different this year was I got the lads to go into little groups based on their positions,” the Bucks captain revealed. “I spoke to Orrin Pendley, Jordan Cranston and Jordan Piggott to deal with the defenders because they’re all quite experienced, so they dealt with the backline. They’d speak to any of the younger lads in the backline that needed it and looked after them.”

He added: “I was looking after the midfielders, so lads like Harry Hawkins and Remi Walker, and then Jimmy Armson was looking after the strikers and wingers.

“We all had our own little groups to look out for, and a lot of it came down to mentality.

“Before the game I asked Jordan Cranston to keep saying well done to Dylan (Allen-Hadley) for the first 10 minutes, and just little bits of encouragement to everyone early on.

“Especially Oliver Cawthorne, what with him being new and still understanding the football over here, I wanted everyone to keep saying well done just to build encouragement and confidence.

“I kept hearing it all over the pitch and I think it really helped us build our way into the game.

“It was difficult losing Jimmy because he’s such a calm head, and it was a kick to the teeth at the time, but we’re a group that will always try and get each other out of holes and succeed for one another.

“That sums up our team really, and even when we went behind I think we all knew we were going to come back and win the game.”