Wilkin relieved as AFC Telford grab first win

Relief was the overriding emotion for AFC Telford boss Kevin Wilkin after seeing his side register their first win of the National North season.

A 1-0 success in Scarborough lifted the Bucks up to 21st in the standings and ended a run of six matches without success.

The game was settled in the 78th minute when Matty Stenson found space in the hosts’ penalty area and drilled a low finish under goalkeeper Ryan Whitley for his fourth goal of the season.

Bucks boss Wilkin handed an immediate debut to former Shrewsbury defender Mal Benning, who signed on Friday, while Orrin Pendley was restored alongside Oliver Cawthorne and Zak Lilly in a back three.

An improved defensive performance followed with Wilkin delighted that his players and supporters finally had a win to celebrate.

“Yeah, I guess a little bit relieved, it's got to be said,” said Wilkin. “I’m just really pleased for everybody at the club. Certainly the supporters, they stay behind us, and they keep staying behind the lads, which is great and needs to happen.”

Wilkin’s side had failed to register a victory in half-a-dozen attempts from the season’s start, and the manager felt his side benefitted from sticking to his guiding principles in adversity.

“To not have a win on the board after six games… I don't think that's a position I've ever been in as a manager, so it’s challenging,” he added. “But that's what the game is all about, and you've got to stay true to yourself and what you do and the way you prepare for games. Hopefully, we can move forward from here.”

Stenson’s goal arrived with 12 minutes remaining, but was a fair reward for a performance full of graft and concentration that nullified the previously free-scoring Seadogs.

Wilkin set his his team up to be harder to break down and the end justified the means.

“We can't keep conceding the goals that we have, and I don't really think Scarborough had many, if any, opportunities,” said Wilkin.

"I think we had the better moments, and certainly the goal we scored is probably the best moment of the game.”

Away from home and mindful of too many “bad moments” defensively, Wilkin was pragmatic, but suggested this was horses for courses and didn’t signal a complete change of approach.

“I've said that I want to play expansive football, and certainly at home, on a fantastic surface, that's always going to be the intention, and it will be the intention," added the boss.

“But yeah, you've got to keep clean sheets. You can't keep making the errors and the really bad moments that we do.

“They're just born out of… maybe a little bit of naivety, a lack of physicality in certain areas. I know, and I can see that, and I need to try and change that."

Praising his side’s application, he continued: “It's just that the lads deserve it. They do work incredibly hard. I never, ever would have levelled it at them that they don't try hard for the cause.

“They're a decent bunch; they wanted to stick the music straight on there and enjoy that, and it's a box ticked now that's out of the way.”