AFC Telford 0 Ebbsfleet 2 - match report

Halloween arrived two weeks early as AFC Telford produced their very own version of the Rocky Horror Show at the New Bucks Head.

The spooky silence that fell around the ground for much of the afternoon was totally understandable, with Ebbsfleet United running out easy winners in this battle between last season's respective Blue Square Bet North and South play-off winners.

Whatever inner demons were troubling the Telford players we can only guess, but this was a performance that fell well short of the standard required for success at this level.

The Kentish side had arrived in Shropshire on the back of a morale-boosting draw with Luton in midweek, in a game where they came from2-0 down to rescue a point in the final quarter of an hour.

Their manager Liam Daish had called on his side to back-up that result with another decent display at Telford but he can't have expected the hosts to have rolled out the red carpet and made it so easy for them.

Ebbsfleet could have been a goal to the good inside the first minute, James Darvill forcing keeper Ryan Young to make a super save diving low to his left.

The powerful Calum Willock was a handful for the defenders all afternoon and he also could have broken the deadlock soon after, firing over the bar when finding space in the box.

There was little surprise, therefore, when the visitors did take the lead on 24 minutes – the same two forwards combining. Willock won a header off a free-kick into the box and knocked it down for Darvill, who saw his first effort blocked by Young but then blasted into the roof of the net off the loose ball.

It could so easily have got worse as well, Darvill and Michael West lifting shots over the bar before Tom Phipp had a shot blocked by defender Shane Killock.

Telford's first clear chance came just moments before half-time – Courtney Pitt releasing Greg Mills, who had space inside the box but took too long unleashing his shot so giving defender Yado Mambo time to slide in and clear.

Telford chief Andy Sinton's mood was made clear by a double half-time substitution – Richard Davies and Adam Proudlock coming on to replace Phil Trainer and Adam Proudlock.

The Bucks were better in the second period, but only marginally so as Ebbsfleet continued to look comfortable.

A spell of five corners in quick succession for the hosts hinted at a revival but they were not able to convert the pressure into a goalscoring chance.

And the Fleet then delivered a killer blow on 56 minutes, doubling their lead when Pitt lost possession in midfield.

His error was a gift to Darvill, who burst forward and slid the ball through to Willock, who finished clinically to double his side's lead. Telford never offered the merest hint of a fightback after that, Chris Sharp's injury-time effort their only serious strike on goal.

Sinton's men suddenly find themselves looking over their shoulders once more at the ugly spectre of a relegation battle.

There is still plenty of time to get back on track but they simply cannot afford too many more ghoulish performances of this nature.

Match analysis by CHRIS HUDSON