AFC Telford United's defensive issues exposed

A chastening home defeat by their East Anglian visitors left Kevin Wilkin facing a real challenge to arrest a slide that has seen AFC Telford United regrettably rediscover a defensive frailty that appeared to have been corrected just a few weeks ago.

They started reasonably, but when things went wrong, they went to the well and found it empty, and were swept away by King’s Lynn .

The Bucks made a slightly better start and should have claimed the lead when a through ball found Rio Owen, whose shot beat keeper Ronnie Hollingshead but hit the far post.

They were left regretful four minutes later when the Linnet took the lead, Carlton Ubaezuno nodding in low at the far post from a cross from the right edge of the penalty area.

Keeper Brandon Hall, making his 100th Bucks appearance, was not going to mark it with a clean sheet.

Jordan Cranston’s fierce drive from 25 yards was parried by Hollingshead to Mal Benning on the edge of the box, who miscued his shot.

The Bucks’ best moment of the game came just before the half-hour mark, when they had an effort disallowed. Dylan Mitchell and Owen robbed Ethan Warne of possession and Mitchell scrambled to his feet to feed Matty Stenson to his left, who tapped in. But a very late flag went up, to the home team’s furious indignation.

Fired up by the perceived injustice, Remi Walker sent a shot into Hollingshead’s gloves.

The Bucks’ challenge of claiming anything from the game got harder in the 50th minute, when Ubaezuonu rounded Brandon Hall to tap home.

That task was looking almost impossible when Jesse Nwabueze was felled inside the penalty are in the 53rd minute. Hall kept Bucks in the game with a terrific penalty stop to deny Nwabueze.

The home side were stung into a response, and when a free-kick into the box from wide on the left wasn’t cleared, Oliver Cawthorne’s shot from 12 yards was pushed away by Hollinghshead.

But with the Bucks pushing high they were left short in defence and Scott’s scooped ball into the middle appeared to go in off a defender, although Ubaezuonu appeared to claim it for his hat-trick.

That was the signal for a handful of spectators to call it quits, and the final 15 minutes brought more agony.

Reece Hall-Johnson’s superb strike from 25 yards that went across Hall and beat him into his far-left corner for a fourth goal.

They added a fifth when substitute Layton Love was picked out by fellow replacement Noah Rubio, and he drove a low shot under Hall to cap a great afternoon for the visitors.

For the Bucks, their incoming fortnight off from competitive action looks like it can’t come soon enough. They are short on depth, and their confidence will be fragile after conceding five goals for a second successive match.

They appeared to be running on empty once the Linnets pulled away, and Wilkin and his squad face an uncomfortable period as they seek to halt a slump back into the lower reaches of the table.

AFC Telford United (4-3-3): Hall, Cranston, Benning, Pendley (Moult 77), Cawthorne, Fletcher, Williams (Lambert 81), Mitchell (McLintock 60), Walker (Burrell 77), Stenson, Owen.