Battling Bucks fall short where it matters most
There’s an old football joke about the test of a team or player being whether they can do it on a wet Tuesday night in Stoke.
The Enterprise National League North’s equivalent is whether you can do it on a wet Saturday in Alfreton. And the answer for the Bucks was no, they couldn’t as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat.
Their performance wasn’t far short, and arguably was worth some reward against an Alfreton side who showed little ambition.
While the Bucks possessed more quality on the ball than the hosts, the quality wasn’t there where it really mattered – Alfreton’s penalty area.
Kevin Wilkin’s side couldn’t find a way against an Alfreton side desperate for a positive result after a poor start to the campaign.
A 5-0 defeat at Oxford City brought down the curtain on Billy Heath’s seven-year tenure, and a 3-0 FA Cup exit at Spalding United under the interim management of Ryan Conneely, Demaro Woodruffe and Calum Flanagan hadn’t dispelled the gloom.
The Bucks were frustrated by Alfreton’s approach, although in fairness, the Reds have no obligation to anyone but themselves. Where they might have hoped for a little more help was from the officials. But referee David Jones’ laissez-faire attitude to Alfreton’s exaggerated game management only encouraged more of it.
The game’s early stages were characterised by a series of set-pieces shared between the protagonists. Alfreton had the greater percentage, but the Bucks went closest to when home keeper George Willis pushed Dylan Allen-Hadley’s shot away.
The Bucks were grateful to the 17-year-old Wolves loanee Josh Gracey for a terrific double save to deny two Bucks of recent past.
Gracey made ground back across his line to block Jed Abbey’s hard and low strike, then recovered to deny Lewis Salmon just seconds later.
The Bucks began to raise their intensity around the half-hour-mark, and ought to have taken the lead, albeit it came from another set-piece.
Jordan Cranston’s corner from the right was headed on goal by Oliver Cawthorne and blocked, then Alex Fletcher’s air shot and recovery to set up Orrin Pendley saw the centre-half drill a low effort wide to Willis’s right.
Another chance came for Rhys Hilton. Sent through the middle, he was up against Willis but struck his shot too close, allowing Willis to push it aside.
It felt as though the game was moving into a phase where the Bucks had momentum, but if this game taught them anything, it’s that when those passages of play arise, they have to capitalise.
Hilton cut in from the right to send a deflected shot looping and bouncing into Willis’s gloves, but the Bucks were about to be poleaxed by a penalty decision on the stroke of half-time.
Austin Samuels, who trialled with the Bucks last season and has already faced them once this season for Spennymoor Town, gave chase to a hopeful ball. Pendley and Gracey moved towards the danger and as they converged, Samuels collided with the keeper, who stood back with arms raised, indicating no intent to foul him, even though the contact was undeniable.
Referee Jones saw it as deliberate, and Samuels himself took the spot-kick, beating Gracey’s valiant effort to deny him.
While the Bucks may have felt they didn’t deserve to trail, there’d been enough in their play for them not to panic about the half-time score.
Allen-Hadley was denied by Ryan Barrett’s recovery as he looked to go beyond him on to a diagonal ball from Pendley, and soon afterwards, the winger’s exchange of passes with Cranston worked space in the penalty area for a shot blocked by a covering defender.
Following the restart, Cranston whistled a shot comfortably over the crossbar following a corner won by Allen-Hadley that the home defence couldn’t clear effectively.
The pattern of play remained largely the same, but the quality of delivery into the areas in front of Willis’s goal couldn’t penetrate.
The Bucks commendably didn’t panic or start launching the ball forward, which would have played into the hands of Alfreton’s sizeable back four.
But the home side’s desire to keep their lead seemed just that bit greater than the Bucks’ desire to take it from them.
And when a cross found Matty Stenson at the near post, Alfreton got enough bodies in the way to prevent him from forcing the ball in.
The officials added eight additional minutes, and Stenson was the main character in the drama they provided. The striker couldn’t direct a header on target from a corner and then fired the ball over before seeing another shot blocked.
Two more minutes were played, with Alfreton running the clock down by the Bucks’ right corner flag, and despite legitimate claims to have deserved a point, the visitors left empty-handed.
AFC Telford United: Gracey, Dyer, Cranston, Pendley (Piggott 79), Cawthorne, Fletcher, Walker (Armson 79), Leshabela, Hilton (Meddows 68), George (Stenson 62), Allen-Hadley (Williams 79). Subs not used: Lawal, Dinanga.
