Lowestoft Town 1-2 AFC Telford United - Report

The significance of this result can only be genuinely assessed at the end of the season, but the Bucks can potentially draw inspiration from achieving a victory in circumstances in which they have previously struggled.

Kevin Wilkin’s team weren’t the best long-distance travellers last season and found Suffolk, in particular, a step too far, losing on their three visits to the county.

Those experiences could have allowed a feeling of ennui to set in on the long coach journey, but the Bucks dispelled those doubts with a solid display.

An FA Cup defeat a week earlier meant Wilkin reshaped his starting XI, with Ellis Myles and James Armson returning in place of George Burroughs and Sam Whittall.

The Bucks boss will have been heartened to see his team’s injury woes easing, enabling him to name Steffan Jones and Jordan Piggott amongst a full complement of substitutes.

Seven days earlier, the Bucks had paid a heavy price for not being switched on from a restart, but one week later, they were extracting the maximum from a Lowestoft lapse after just five minutes.

A foul on captain Kyle Storer in midfield allowed colleague Remi Walker to spot the opportunity to spring an attack with a quickly taken free-kick. Walker’s awareness invited Myles to dart forward in the inside right channel, and when keeper Luke Holt pushed away the defender’s hard and low shot from the edge of the box, Byron Moore seized upon the loose ball to put an angled shot into the roof of the net from six yards.

It was the best possible start on a warm and humid afternoon, but the Trawler Boys showed admirable resolve and quickly cast their nets, looking for an equaliser.

Bucks keeper Brandon Hall took no chances, diving left to turn aside a low shot that led to a corner, and the hosts earned a succession of similar opportunities as they sought to use width to deliver crosses for talismanic striker Jake Reed.

Kyle Haylock and Sam Johnson were busy for the hosts, along with fullbacks Charlie Norman and Harry Barbrook, the latter on loan from Premier League side Ipswich Town.

While the intent was positive, the Trawler Boys lacked the extra quality to truly hurt the Bucks, and they were soon given a lesson in quality over quantity.

Their enthusiasm and industry are fine qualities, but the Bucks responded efficiently and ruthlessly, making their chances count when they arrived.

Ricardo Dinanga, who has been enjoying an excellent start to the season, had Norman backpedalling frequently, and the Bucks winger's positive and purposeful run with the ball at his feet took him past Norman and a colleague and into the penalty area.

Dinanga picked out Armson’s run, and the attacking midfielder showed his class by not striking the ball immediately, sidestepping a challenge to leave him face-to-face with Holt before drilling it past him into the net.

Dior Angus, eager for a goal from open play to go alongside his two successful penalty conversions to date, went close to adding a third goal .

Dinanga’s cross from the left found Angus’s near post run, and he couldn’t have done much more, his redirection being kept out by an instinctive Holt save.

Lowestoft came closest when a free -kick awarded for a foul by Alex Gudger was only partially cleared to the edge of the box. A return shot through a crowd of players could have gone anywhere, and it was Angus who stuck out a foot to make the block in his six-yard box, with Hall then leaping onto the loose ball.

Barbrook’s instinctive redirection of the ball with his head when the ball flashed in front of him in the box brought a good stop from Hall, but the Trawler Boys finally landed the catch they wanted in the 76th minute when Johnson raced on to a pass and fired a rasping left-footer that Hall parried aside, but Reed had gambled, and with the defence rooted where they stood, the striker darted in to head home the rebound.

Inevitably, the combination of the goal and the substitutions gave the hosts a massive shot of adrenaline.

The remaining minutes were primarily a tale of the Bucks soaking up pressure and trying to counterattack.

Hall preserved parity in the 86th minute with a terrific save, low to his left, to deny Harvey Sayer. It was a critical moment

The game’s final big moment arrived deep into the time added by the officials. Reed took the ball across the area, looking for a chance to shoot, but he bit the dust as Myles made a desperate swish at the ball. Reed turned around, hoping to see a penalty being awarded, but instead, he saw the official showing him a yellow card for the simulation.