Blog: Plenty of positives for AFC Telford

Stand out performers, for me, have to be Russell Benjamin and Tony Gray in what was an entertaining 1-1 draw at Boston United.

The latter should have had his second goal in two games, though. after a sublime piece of skill to turn defender Scott Garner inside out.

Gray had almost have the entire penalty area to himself only to fire narrowly wide with the finish.

The control and turn were van Persie-esque, the finish didn't quite live up to what came before it.

Prior to that he had chased down a lost cause, dispossessed the same centre-half and then got in front of his man.

Garner was so incredibly lumbersome and clumsy that it only ever looked like he was going to give the penalty away.

To have a player who is that effective in the final third, particularly after the 'quality' we had in those areas last season, is really good.

Hopefully, with his track record, Gray will be hitting the back of the net more often than not when in those positions.

Alongside him though is more of an issue, Andy Owens was not the referees' friend. He got very little change out of the man in the middle.

Saying that, he wasn't as effective as he had been in pre-season, but can't help but think part of that is down to a slight injury he seems to be carrying.

The dynamic way he plays is a lot harder to do when carrying a knock, but for 45 minutes he gave his all, which is the minimum we expect to see as supporters.

Again, fully fit and firing he will be a huge asset to the side, we just need to make sure we don't run him into the ground injury-wise, before the season has barely started!

We have seen that previously with the over use of Andy Brown, who for us, never really had the chance to recover from one knock to the next.

That ultimately meant he just picked up a succession of injuries that took longer to heal effectively.

The tactical switch to see Benjamin in a narrower midfield at the expense of Mike Phenix puzzled a few of the away support.

But we could understand, away from home, and I don't feel he did himself any harm at all for keeping his position on Saturday.

He used the ball well – and when we were soaking up a lot of pressure late on, he still had enough energy in his tank to make some big tackles to take some of the pressure off.

The half-time change to three at the back also had its' positives, not something we had seen in pre-season, but something that helped the back-line a bit

With Chris Lever looking more comfortable as a left sided centre-half than at full-back, where he struggled to offer an attacking outlet in support of Sean Clancy.

My biggest irk currently is the Robbie Booth international clearance saga. Can I call it that yet? It certainly seems to have been going on long enough already.

Manager Liam Watson has assembled a squad of players he thinks will win games, and he must be as frustrated as the next man, that he hasn't got the players he wants available to influence games.

Booth would certainly have done that at Boston He offers that bit different, that 'football brain' similar to Tony Gray.

How long can it take for a national organisation to forward the relevant paperwork – then again we all know how long it can take another national organisation to return your passport!

Next up for the Bucks is Whaddon Road in Cheltenham to tackle Gloucester City, who have won one and lost one so far, winning what appears to be termed an ugly local derby against Worcester on Tuesday night.

Of course, there are going to be no easy games but I am sure, as we make the 77 or so mile journey, Liam and the boys will be plotting a three point haul.

Let's get as many fans there as we can to support us and, hopefully return, with our first away victory of the season.

A haul of 23 home wins would give us 69 points, 23 draws would give us 92 points – enough for the title –and, hopefully, we can win some of the away games.

It follows the adage win your home and don't be beaten away and you can't go far wrong, but it is a long way until May.

Even if every team is aiming for the same there will be plenty more twists and turns along the way.

This is going to be an exciting season, jump on and join the ride early – then you can say you saw it from the start! Come on you Whites!!