AFC Telford aiming to come up trumps in Trophy

Gavin Cowan’s side make the long trip north to tackle National North rivals Darlington in the third round of the FA Trophy.

And they will travel in confident mood following their record-breaking exploits against Coleshill Town in midweek.

Cowan’s men powered their way to a 10-1 success with hat-tricks from Dom McHale and Aaron Williams and further strikes from James Hardy, Lee Vaughan, Jack Byrne and Eddie Jones.

It was their record victory since they were reformed as AFC Telford United, beating the previous best of 7-0 against Runcorn in the Unibond League in April 2006.

Away-days have become the norm in cup competitions this season, with the Bucks having also travelled to Chasetown and Leiston in the FA Cup.

And while Cowan doesn’t expect a glut of goals again tomorrow, he will be demanding the same levels of application and professionalism that were on display in midweek.

“It probably gets boring listening to me say it, but you have to play the cards you are dealt,” said the Bucks boss.

“So we have now been given a fixture away at Darlington and we have to go there and apply ourselves like we did on Tuesday. If we do that, we give ourselves a great chance.

“They (Coleshill) wanted to cause an upset, but I just think the way we applied ourselves, the professionalism that the players adopted, was just second to none.

“I was very pleased with the attitude and application of the players.”

Tomorrow’s game kick-starts a hectic period for Bucks and a tough-looking run of fixtures over the next few weeks.

But once again, Cowan – who is without the injured Henry Cowans and has concerns surrounding Brendon Daniels, Jason Oswell and Shane Sutton – admits it’s a situation his squad just have to deal with.

“These are the cards we are dealt so we have to play them,” he added.

“You have a decision to moan about your cards and not focus on what you doing, or you can focus on what you are doing and hopefully make the best of what you have got.

“We have got a tough run of fixtures now. We have got Darlington in the FA Trophy away, we have got Chester twice, Kidderminster and Fylde.

“I don’t think anyone will have a tougher set of fixtures.

“The injuries keep coming, the world keeps wanting to be against us but, ultimately, that’s where we are at.

“I just think we have to focus on us. We did that on Tuesday and we saw what came to fruition.

“We have just got to continue to do that, focus on what we are doing, make sure we are very focused on doing our job and just being the best that we can be. That’s all we can do.”

The Bucks have already tasted success away at Darlington this season – goals from Oswell and Dom McHale securing a hard-fought 2-1 league victory last month.

And Cowan is keen to see his side approach tomorrow’s game in the same manner and get after their hosts from the off.

“It was a bonus to get those three points and again, it’s not rocket science, we applied ourselves brilliantly on the day,” continued the Bucks boss.

“We came out the starting blocks very quickly and we want to try to replicate that performance and hopefully bring back the same result.

“But it’s a different day, both teams have developed over the weeks. It’s another challenge.”