AFC Telford United 2-0 Spennymoor - Report

Paul Carden’s side face a pivotal series of games over the next three weeks; however, they showed they are in pretty good shape for the challenge, disposing of Spennymoor Town in a way that was surprising if only for its apparent ease.

Spennymoor were poor on the day; they came into this team on the back of a six-game unbeaten run, but they couldn’t match the Bucks, with joint manager Bernard Morley lamenting his side’s lack of intensity and desire.

What Spennymoor lacked, the Bucks had in abundance. Make no mistake, it was the almost remorseless energy shown by Carden’s side that made the visitors look so lacking, and which earned a fully deserved victory.

The visitors even had keeper Jordan Amissah dismissed with a quarter of the game remaining for lashing out at Jason Oswell, but their failure to take anything from this game couldn’t be laid at his door, as the Bucks were already in full control by that point.

Carden made two changes from the side that earned a draw at AFC Fylde in midweek; Liam Nolan, unavailable against his parent club on Tuesday, returned in midfield, whilst Carl Baker replaced Byron Moore. Moore was to be a substitute, but in the warm-ups felt a recurrence of the tightness in his hamstring that had been the reason behind Carden’s selection of Baker, and Moore dropped out altogether, replaced by Brad Bood.

They also had to leave out one of their six loan players. League rules permit only five loan players in a match day squad of sixteen, and midfielder Keaton Ward was the unlucky man to miss out.

Despite a high tempo start, the Bucks could have been behind after just 4 minutes. A quickly taken free-kick caught them out and a low cross into the six-yard box from the left by Jordan Thewlis was flicked inches wide of the far post by the heel of Rob Ramshaw.

That proved to be almost as good as it got for the Moors. Devarn Green, making his Bucks home debut, looked keen to make an impression and he cut inside from the left, but couldn’t find Oswell with his cross. Minutes later he did so again but this time chose to shoot, and Amissah and a defender both threw bodies in the way to block his fierce, goal -bound effort.

That brought a corner, followed by a second corner, and from that Oswell should have headed the Bucks in front. Brendon Daniels, whose deliveries from the corner quadrant caused consternation all afternoon, landed one smack on Oswell’s head, but he directed his effort straight at Amissah from just a few yards, the keeper turning the ball over the bar for a third corner.

It was a case of third time lucky. This time, Daniels’ ball into the middle travelled over the masses gathered at the near post and fell for midfielder Nolan to strike the ball past Amissah from 10 yards.

From the restart, the Bucks almost had a second goal. Carden’s entire back four are currently borrowed from other clubs, and James Melhado, one of the four ‘loan rangers’, overlapped on the right and his pace took him to the goal-line before his low cross was touched towards goal by Oswell, but stopped by Amissah.

More corners were won, giving Daniels the chance to rain in more crosses on a beleaguered Moors back line. Reiss McNally, on his home debut, had a shot deflected over the crossbar as the onslaught continued, and Daniels was inches away from connecting with a cross that dropped over the head of defender Joe Tait.

Baker also fired a shot over, and it took close to half-an-hour for the visitors to establish some sort of a foothold as the Bucks energy levels dipped. The Moors weren’t helped when Mark Anderson hobbled out of the game, replaced by Jude Oyibo, but when they did get close to Pilling’s penalty area, the Bucks quartet of Melhado, McNally, Jordan Piggott and Ryan Burke always appeared in control.

A single goal lead at half-time was probably less than the Bucks performance had warranted, but it took only a few minutes of the second half for them to make amends. McNally had blocked an Oyibo shot in the very early stages, but the Bucks were soon back at it, reinvigorated, and from another Daniels corner they extended their lead.

Nolan, scorer of the only goal, had also netted the winner two weeks ago against Curzon Ashton; that goal prompted Carden to suggest that Nolan has enough in his game to be a more regular scorer, and he demonstrated that when his run and leap at the near post enabled him to steer a glancing header into the nearside top corner of Amissah’s net, the keeper’s view blocked by one of his own defenders.

In their last home game two weeks ago, the Bucks went 2-0 ahead against Alfreton at a similar point of the game, but wobbled alarmingly and conceded three quick-fire goals to lose 3-2. The memory of that collapse probably aided them in this game, as they never looked remotely close to giving away their hard-earned lead.

Moors offered little in response, and an attack of the wrong kind sealed their fate. On 67 minutes, another Bucks corner looked, for once, to be of little danger. Oswell retrieved the ball at the far post and tried to stand up a cross that went straight into Amissah’s grasp. Oswell then appeared to try and block the keeper from making a quick release, and Amissah’s response was to angrily swing his gloved left hand into the side of Oswell’s head.

Oswell was felled, and as referee Sam Mulhall marched over Amissah must have known what was coming. The red card was brandished, and Amissah kicked the ball away in petulance before heading for the dressing room. Moors managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley replaced forward Jordan Preston with midfielder Harry Flatters and he donned the gloves for the rest of the match.

For a few minutes the Bucks seemed set for a third goal, eager to test Flatters. Melhado had a shot deflected over the bar, but Moors switched to damage limitation mode and the Bucks appeared to figure they’d done enough.

Carden’s side managed the remainder of the game well; Burke, whose performance was exemplary, snuffed out the a cross and shot in quick succession, and Bucks substitute Mace Goodridge tried to get in on the action, firing a low 25 yarder inches wide, but there were no more additions to the score.

As 2-0 victories go, this was as comprehensive as you could wish for, and it’s not just the victory, but the nature of the victory, that pleased Carden. It will also have sent the majority of the crowd home feeling positive about the forthcoming matches, ones that will likely decide their destiny and define their season.

Referee: Sam Mulhall.

Assistants: Aran Hodgkinson, Luis Griffiths.

Attendance: 1,138.

Telford (4-3-3): Pilling, Melhado, Burke, McNally, Piggott, Nolan, Baker, Daniels (Goodridge 65), Oswell, Green, Evans.

Subs not used: Wright, Lilly.

Scorer: Nolan (12, 52).

Cautioned: Baker, Evans.

Spennymoor Town: Amissah, Pye (Ofusu 63), Tait, Curtis, Spokes, Ramshaw, Anderson (Oyibo 31), Preston (Flatters 69), Richardson, Taylor, Thewlis.

Subs not used: Mason, Hall.

Cautioned: Taylor.

Dismissed: Amissah.