Southport 0 AFC Telford 1 - Report and pictures

On a baking afternoon in Lancashire, Gavin Cowan went for a back-to-basics approach in his selection, drafting in Zak Lilly for his first start of the season in defence, likewise with Andre Brown in attack and restoring Chris Lait to the starting eleven.

The hosts, managed by former Bucks boss Liam Watson, looked the more confident outfit in the early stages, with winger Devarn Green often their attacking outlet. After just three minutes, Green created what was the Sandgrounders’ best chance of the entire game, beating his man on the right and delivering for Jack Sampson to direct a low shot from the edge of the six-yard box, an effort well smothered by an alert Corey Addai in the Bucks goal.

That set a pattern for the early stages; Addai was kept busy, saving from home captain David Morgan after Chris Lait had blocked Sampson’s shot, then saving low down again minutes later from centre-forward Raul Correia. Green then whistled a rising shot past Addai’s left post as the Bucks kept wastefully handing possession to the home side.

The pace of the game had been frantic, but the balmy conditions meant play began to slow, and Southport chances became fewer, although Sampson wastefully headed over from a corner when unmarked. Brendon Daniels swapped flanks with Lait, and in the Bucks best moment of the half he delivered a beautiful teasing cross from Ellis Deeney’s pass that Brown didn’t gamble on, the ball agonisingly dropping ahead of the Bucks striker.

Goalless at half-time suited the Bucks far more than their hosts, who could feel a little hard done by; they were soon to feel much more aggrieved. The game hinged on a clumsy challenge by centre-half Ryan Astles on 56 minutes which conceded a penalty. Man-mountain Astles made a mountain out of a molehill when he pushed Brown to the floor, the forward wide of goal and not really going anywhere. With Astles still protesting, Brown despatched the spot-kick past Dan Hanford’s despairing dive to his left, the keeper getting a touch but not enough.

With an unexpected advantage to build on, the Bucks grew into something more like last season’s outfit. Deeney and midfield colleague James McQuilkin were terriers, winning loose possession and the Bucks looked more assured with the ball. Southport eventually mounted a rally, with much of the danger coming from set-pieces and the prodigious and dangerous long throws of full-back Reagan Ogle. Skipper Shane Sutton and defensive colleague Lilly and Ross White saw off most of what Ogle and company could hurl at them.

The closest they came to scoring came five minutes from time when Bradley Bauress got behind the defence on the left and crossed low for Morgan; he didn’t make a true contact and the ball squirted wide of Addai’s left post as the keeper scrambled.

The Bucks had claims for a second penalty late on, when substitute Marcus Dinanga took a tumble trying to get to a loose ball created by a Daniels free-kick that Hanford reacted to late. Cowan felt it was a better penalty claim than the one his side were awarded, but Dinanga was booked for simulation.

Five minutes of added time were safely negotiated, the hosts having expended effort for no reward in the first half. The Bucks, by contrast, had grown stronger over the ninety minutes, and Cowan was pleased with their hard work and commitment, as well as the reward of three points.

Teams

AFC Telford United: Addai, White, Daniels, Deeney, Sutton (c), Lilly (Streete 73), Lait (Cowans 59), McQuilkin, Brown (Dinanga 79), Williams, Knights.

Unused Substitutes: Royle, Reilly.

Goals: Brown (56, penalty)

Cautions: Sutton, Dinanga.

Southport FC: Hanford, Ogle, Doyle, Winnard (Mohammed 64), Astles, Morgan (c), Green, Benjamin, Correia (Woods 73), Sampson, Bauress.

Unused Substitutes: Homson-Smith, Parry, Albinson.

Cautions: Green.

Referee: James Westgate.

Assistants: Iain Turner, James Cann.

Attendance: 910