Felixstowe 0 AFC Telford 4 - Report

The Bucks were on a hiding to nothing in this first round FA Trophy tie; even some of their own followers were fearing the worst, drawn away from home to a team two steps below them in the National League system. In normal circumstances, such a tie might be labelled ‘tricky’; however, ‘perilous’ might have more accurately described this assignment.

With the Bucks sitting dead last in their division and the Seasiders having beaten Peterborough Sports, leaders in Step 3’s Southern League Premier Central Division in the previous round, the Bucks were set up to be the fall guys. That may have been the case had the tie happened a couple of weeks earlier, but Carden’s arrival as manager last weekend swung things back towards the visitors.

Carden spoke in his first press conference last week of wanting to assess his resources before making wholesale changes, believing he could “get a tune” out of the existing playing staff. To paraphrase Eric Morecambe, this result suggested the Bucks had perhaps been playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order, and their first recital under the new conductor was pleasing to the ears, and eyes.

With several loan signings having returned to their parent clubs, the Bucks looked closer to the side that had begun the season back in August. Carden played a four-man defence and recalled Cameron Antwi, Kyle Bennett and Kai Williams, with Elliott Durrell on the substitutes bench.

It was apparent from fairly early on in this contest that the Bucks were keen to show that they weren’t simply superior on paper, but on grass also. The Goldstar Ground’s pitch had held up well in overnight rain, something Carden admitted had been a concern, but he’d doubtless have been pleased with how quickly the Bucks were into their stride.

Kyle Bennett enjoyed his best game in a Telford shirt, and he, Williams and Dom McHale were soon making things difficult for the hosts; Bennett saw a low, near-post cross dealt with and soon afterwards, Williams cut inside from the left wing and saw a shot aimed towards the far corner glanced over the bar by the head of a Felixstowe defender.

In the 10th minute, Bennett left the crossbar shuddering when his shot from 25 yards struck it and rebounded back into play, the midfielder allowed too much room and drifting forwards before taking aim. A corner from the same player minutes later passed invitingly through the six-yard box and just wide of the far post. The corner that resulted saw McHale bring a fine save from Callum Robinson, blocking a shot which the midfielder did well to keep low, wrapping his foot around the ball no more than ten yards from goal.

It took the hosts fully 15 minutes to get any sort of hold on matters, with defender Armani Shaar’s optimistic appeals for a penalty when going down over an outstretched leg bringing not even a flicker from referee Callum Walchester.

Williams and left-back Brad Bood were linking up well, swiftly converting defence to attack on several occasions. Robinson’s handling of a treacherously bouncing effort from Williams brought another corner on 21 minutes, and the dam was about to break. The left-hand side was again the Seasiders’ weak spot, and when McHale’s ball in from that side was laid off to Williams by Jason Oswell his finish was hard, low and true, beating an exposed Robinson.

A small lapse from goalkeeper Ted Cann a few minutes later served as a reminder to the Bucks that there was much work still to do, his inability to claim the ball presenting a half-chance to a Felixstowe forward who snatched at it and saw his effort go well wide as a result.

Bennett should have added a second when Bood’s buccaneering run from defence found Williams; he rode a challenge and picked out Bennett, but a defender’s last-gasp lunge stopped Bennett’s shot when most expected the net to bulge.

The Seasiders’ reprieve didn’t last long. On 32 minutes another quick break from defence down the left found McHale, and when he bisected the defence with a great pass it was a case of who would get there first out of two Bucks players. Oswell was the hungrier of the two, and he won’t score an easier goal this season, tapping in from a few yards out with Robinson stranded.

Oswell was on target again after 40 minutes, as the Bucks showed no desire to go easy on the hosts. Captain Adam Walker was involved, delaying a short pass into the penalty area and through the Felixstowe defence to Williams; he touched the ball off for Oswell to blast it past Robinson, again left exposed as the ball flew past him.

The Bucks were three goals to the good at the interval; it hadn’t been completely one-sided, but the best the Seasiders could muster had been routinely dealt with by the Bucks defence, marshalled by Theo Streete with Saul Shotton alongside him. Unfortunately, Shotton wasn’t to last much more of the game; after 48 minutes a heavy challenge left him audibly in pain and unable to put much weight onto one foot, and he was replaced by Zak Lilly.

The half has started in another heavy downpour, one of many that punctuated the afternoon, and the Bucks further dampened the Seasiders’ enthusiasm for the contest on 57 minutes. McHale had enjoyed a good afternoon’s work, playing in the space behind Oswell, and when he was allowed room just inside the penalty area McHale struck a well-placed shot beyond Robinson for the fourth goal.

From that point on it was about showing some pride and keeping the score respectable for the hosts, whilst Carden’s men slackened off a little in terms of scoring threat, but not in their desire to keep a clean sheet.

Durrell had replaced Oswell and on 70 minutes the Bucks had a real moment to cheer, when Brendon Daniels made his return from injury, replacing McHale. Daniels had been absent for close to three months, and he almost capped his return with a goal, forcing an effort wide when Williams and Bood combined for Bood to dart into the box and find Daniels with a low cross.

The game drew to a low-key conclusion, the result having been in little doubt since the first half. The Bucks had seized control of the tie in the opening 45 minutes, and the second half was perhaps when Carden would have found out about a different side to his new team; their persistence, desire and concentration were all solidly on display, raised perhaps by knowing that their new manager was watching on keenly.

Progress into the next round was the main objective; bigger tests await Carden and his men as they go in search of points to haul themselves away from the threat of relegation, but this performance endorsed the manager’s belief that the answers may lie within what the Bucks already have, rather than in seeking new blood.

Teams

Telford (4-4-2): Cann, White, Bood, Shotton (Lilly 52), Streete, Walker, Bennett, McHale (Daniels 70), Williams, Oswell (Durrell 53).

Subs not used: Eccleston, Jed Abbey,

Scorers: Williams (22), Oswell (32, 40), McHale (57).

Felixstowe and Walton: Robinson, Shaar (Bennett 45), Ainsley, Holland, Whight, Nunn, Barley, Matthews (Henry 55), Ford, Hitter (Porter 80), Warren.

Subs not used: Howell, Horton.

Cautioned: Barley.