Nuneaton 1 AFC Telford 1 - match report

Two years ago Phil Trainer was a frustrated spectator forced by suspension to watch his side suffer play-off agony.

Last night he popped up with a stunning late equaliser that could just have turned this semi-final on its head and set AFC Telford on the road to promotion.

It is a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the Wolverhampton-born man - and a timely one too.

That is because, entering three minutes of stoppage time at Nuneaton's Liberty Way the Bucks found themselves somewhat unjustly one goal down.

But, with only seven seconds of those three minutes remaining, Trainer headed in what might be the most important goal of his career to date.

The tie is far from over going into the second leg but this was a psychological blow to Nuneaton, who must have thought they would be heading to Shropshire with a lead to defend.

It would have been an unjust lead too, with Telford having caused the most problems for much of the evening.

In the first half especially they were disciplined, well-organised and committed - Kevin Wilkin's Nuneaton side holding on by the skin of their teeth.

Andy Brown went closest to opening the scoring with a glancing header off a Sean Newton corner that flashed across goal.

Side-netting

But there was a succession of quality deliveries from the right side, with full-back Will Salmon roaming forward to provide many of them.

At the other end, former Buck Lee Moore lashed a shot into the side-netting but his side offered little else to trouble a well-drilled defence that boasts the best record in the Blue Square Bet North.

Telford were dominant in the 15 minutes before the break and must have been sad to hear the half-time whistle as they continued to lay siege to the Nuneaton goalmouth.

Their momentum was certainly interrupted by the interval and it gave the hosts a chance to finally try and get a foot-hold in the contest.

But just as the Bucks had struggled to create clear chances, so Nuneaton too failed to force keeper Ryan Young into serious action.

Instead it was Telford who went within a whisker of opening the scoring as they broke on the counter-attack with almost deadly effect.

First Greg Mills unleashed a shot blocked on the line by the impressive Kyle Storer then, from the follow-up, the ball broke to Adam Proudlock — whose fierce low drive was hooked over the bar by Gareth Dean.

That flurry of activity seemed to have sparked the Bucks into life, but their evening was about to take a turn for the worse when Salmon was judged to have fouled substitute James Armson on the edge of the D.

It was an inviting position and Storer duly accepted the gift with a stunning free-kick that flew beyond Young's desperate dive to ripple the net.

Record

At that stage Telford might even have been willing to settle for a one-goal defeat and concentrate on turning the tie around back at the New Bucks Had.

It certainly seemed that would be the route they would have to try and take as referee Anthony Tankard indicated three minutes of injury-time.

But Andy Sinton's side have lost just four times this season and the belief they have gained from that phenomenal record helped them to force a sensational equaliser in the dying seconds.

It came as Salmon's long throw from the right was half-cleared only as far as Jon Adams.

The midfielder had been a thorn in Nuneaton's side all night and he produced a sweet half-volley that forced goalkeeper Danny Alcock into a desperate flying save.

But, finally, luck went Telford's way as the ball looped up and Trainer was able to head into an empty net from close range.

It sparked wild celebrations from around 1,000 away fans packed behind Young's goal.

They will now be dreaming of taking another big step towards completing the journey back to the top tier of non-League football.

Sunday simply can't come soon enough.