Pictures and analysis of Ebbsfleet 1 AFC Telford 3

Few would confidently have predicted AFC Telford's trip to Ebbsfleet would be the one to finally banish their 30-game winless run.

They defied an horrendous injury crisis and a chaotic build up, with just 12 fit players and four defenders playing out of their favoured positions.

It was complicated by the loss of recalled on-loan defender Kris Taylor on Saturday because of an FA ruling. So to take a long, long-awaited victory deserves great credit.

When Stefan Payne coolly slotted home for the hosts after just 16 minutes, it looked like this would be yet another game to forget for the Bucks.

But a rapid response and a 17-minute hat-trick by on-loan Walsall hitman Aaron Williams saw John Psaras's depleted side turn the scoreline on its head.

And they then defended confidently in an uneventful second half which saw the hosts relegated at the final whistle.

That it has taken 31 games for the Bucks to rediscover that winning feeling in the Blue Square Bet Premier League sums up what has been a wretched season overall.

And one win – against a very poor Ebbsfleet side – does not suddenly make everything OK. But it is hard to begrudge anyone associated with the club a celebration after the team finally banished their record-breaking winless run in clinical style.

The Bucks started with a confidence that belied a threadbare squad nursing nine injuries – Dan Preston (back) and Steve Jones (calf) having recovered sufficiently to make the bench.

Midfielder Steve Leslie, who was filling in at left-back, drew an early save from Lucas Menz after four minutes.

Liam Bellamy replied for the hosts – who knew their relegation would be sealed if they failed to win the game – but Ryan Young was equal to it.

The Bucks' back line – which featured a right-back (Will Salmon) and a midfielder (Christian Smith) at centre-back, a striker (Marco Adaggio) at right-back and Leslie at left-back – was given its first real test on 13 minutes from Stefan Payne's looping header, but Adaggio managed to get the vital touch which prevented the ball crossing the line.

But the hosts got their breakthrough three minutes later when Moses Ashikodi gathered a loose ball following Will Salmon's brave challenge.

The striker played a delightful pass through to Payne, who found the far corner with a slick finish from 12 yards out.

It was a predictable start by a Bucks' outfit for which conceding early goals has been a far-too-frequent occurrence.

But they found the perfect response when Williams headed home following Alex Meechan's headed pass within two minutes of the re-start.,

Williams missed a glorious chance to double his tally when he failed to beat Menz from a one-on-one position after James O'Neill had played him in.

At the other end, Ashley Carew was just as wasteful with Jack Saville's cross, mis-kicking from just a few yards out and allowing Salmon to clear.

But Williams did not miss when Christian Smith's powerful header came back off the post from Meechan's corner after 28 minutes.

His close-range finish gave Telford the lead in a game for only the second time this year and this time they did not look back.

Williams gave the Bucks what would be an unassailable advanatge when he headed home Jake Bennett's cross 10 minutes before the break.

Payne had hearts in mouths momentarily when he hammered inches wide from distance for the hosts. But the Bucks made it to half-time with their two-goal buffer in tact.

After so many games without a win, there was still a feeling that Ebbsfleet could still get a result if they could pull a goal back early on. But Telford turned in a composed display in a relatively uneventful second half and very rarely looked like squandering their lead.

Carew's set-piece deliveries did cause a couple of nervous moments and Ashikodi twice went close for the hosts, firing just over after 53 minutes before just failing to connect with a testing free-kick that whistled past the far post seven minutes later.

Ebbsfleet did increase the pressure in the final 10 minutes when the Bucks had to make a handful of clearances inside their own box. And Christian Smith's dismissal in stoppage time – for two bookable offences – quickened the pulse just a little. But the Bucks got over the line to banish a miserable run to the history books.

By Matthew Viney