Farsley Celtic 1-1 AFC Telford United - Report

Devarn Green’s 75th minute header rewarded the Bucks for making some positive changes in the second half, cancelling out Luke Parkin’s first-half opener, and the draw was probably a fair result.

It was a game and performance that lacked some of the anxiety of Tuesday’s draw at Guiseley, but was one where the Bucks didn’t impose themselves until the energy of substitutes Byron Moore, Robbie Evans and Mace Goodridge lifted the tempo.

A fourth game without defeat for Paul Carden’s side is certainly a positive, and although taking maximum points against fellow strugglers would have been ideal, the reality is that both sides are also fighting for their National League North lives; as such, anything the Bucks might have gained from either was ever going to be easily surrendered.

Carden made two changes to his side, handing Brendon Daniels a return after injury and giving a debut to new signing Harry Flowers, the giant centre-half presence that Carden has sought almost since day one, and who arrived hours before Thursday’s transfer deadline.

Opponents Celtic went into this game off the back of two straight victories, galvanised by new manager Russ Wilcox. They made the slightly better start to the game on a pitch which has suffered through the winter and had dried out in the spring sunshine, a surface Carden described as being “harder than the car park outside”.

Crafty and creative, midfielder Parkin had an early shot blocked and recent arrival Frank Mulhern shot over with an optimistic effort as the Yorkshire side looked to carry their good momentum forwards.

The Bucks employed Marcus Marshall and Green on the flanks, with the two swapping sides periodically as they looked to stretch the Celtic back four, who were marshalled well by Adam Clayton. The Bucks still hadn’t found what they were looking for from the pair, as their crosses failed to find their target, central striker Jason Oswell.

Flowers, the dominant defensive presence the Bucks have needed, got his head to a cross to divert it away from Jerome Greaves, the pair being a real physical match at comfortably over six feet tall and their fair to blond hair making them stand out.

Daniels helped set up a crossing chance for left-back Ryan Burke, and Marshall’s touch of the ball en route carried it just too far ahead of Oswell at the far post. Farsley responded from a corner; defender Kennedy Digie headed the ball back towards Greaves across the six- yard box but the young striker probably tried to do too much when a simple firm contact would have forced Luke Pilling into making a save. Instead, his attempt to glance the ball in came partly off his shoulder and went wide.

Just before the half-way point of the half, Celtic took the lead. Digie’s presence meant the Bucks conceded a throw on the right, and Celtic worked a chance to cross the ball in low. A Bucks defender tried to intercept but the ball may have kicked up a little off the pitch and came off his shin, diverting it to Parkin; receiving the ball around the penalty spot, he was never going to miss, and drove the ball low to Pilling’s right to open the scoring.

With something to consolidate, Farsley didn’t go for the kill; however, the Bucks efforts to get back into the game lacked any real zip, and the hosts looked the more likely to score, although chances for either side were at a premium.

Pilling held a ball turned back across goal from a free-kick by Clayton, and the keeper then gave his defence an anxious moment when he was put under pressure by a backpass; with the ball at his feet and unable to pick it up, his hurried kick clear landed at Will Hayhurst’s feet, and Pilling would have been relieved that Hayhurst didn’t accept the invitation to shoot. The immediate threat evaporated, and the Bucks remained just one goal adrift.

Green brought Celtic keeper Kyle Trenerry into action, as the Farsley no.1, who scored in their surprise win over Curzon Ashton last weekend, stopped his low, angled effort. Green’s shot lacked conviction, and the same could be said of his team’s first 45 minutes.

The Bucks started the second half in the same mode; Greaves and Parkin linked up to create an overload on the left and a low cross through the six-yard box just evaded Hayhurst, who may wish he’d set off a second sooner on a run to the far post.

Carden sensed the need for more, and indeed Moore. Byron Moore came on for the out-of-sorts Daniels, and the turnaround began. A great turn by Marshall on the right took him away from his marker and into the box, but he carried the ball a bit too far and although he got into the penalty area a Farsley challenge stopped his cross from reaching Oswell or Green.

Celtic, and most notably keeper Trenerry, were keen to slow the game down, a fairly standard tactic for most sides at this level from time-to-time, but the Bucks needed to speed things up, and Carden’s next two changes achieved that aim. Mace Goodridge and Robbie Evans came on for Marshall and Keaton Ward, and both brought more energy, but also a bit more composure and drive.

You could sense that the Bucks were gathering themselves for a big push, and so it proved. Referee Andy Sykes saw no handball when perhaps a player from either side could have handled as space in the penalty area became even harder to find, and on 74 minutes Burke kept a cool head to clear Clayton’s header from off the goal-line as Celtic incursion into the Bucks box.

A minute later, the scores were level. From a throw-in on the right, Oswell didn’t quit on a ball played deep to the far post, and stretched to athletically hook the ball back into the six-yard box. The ball bounced up for Green to get above a Celtic defender and nod the ball towards Trenerry’s top-left corner, and despite desperate efforts to clear the ball crossed the line.

Oswell deserved credit for his efforts all afternoon; Carden described him as “selfless” and his wily play earned the Bucks plenty of free-kicks to help turn the tide – could they now press on and snatch the victory?

They certainly tried; Flowers went close to a debut goal, turning a free-kick into the box that was headed onwards to him onto the roof of the net from a narrowing angle. Skipper Jordan Piggott, who played at right-back to make room for Flowers to partner Reiss McNally, spun away from a couple of tackles and went down in the box, failing to even win a second look from referee Sykes, but the one clear chance they sought wouldn’t come.

Results elsewhere meant that the drama at the foot of the table simply rolls on to another week following this draw; sooner or later, someone will fall through the trapdoor, but with two successive home games against Gloucester City and Blyth Spartans to come, Carden’s side still have an opportunity to not only pull themselves clear, but to stamp on someone else’s fingers as they do so.

Referee: Andy Sykes.

Assistants: Jamie Waters, Oliver Nolan.

Attendance: to be confirmed.

Telford (4-3-3): Pilling, Piggott, Burke, McNally, Flowers, Nolan, Marshall (Goodridge 64), Ward (Evans 64), Oswell, Green, Daniels (Moore 56).

Subs not used: Melhado, Streete.

Cautioned: McNally.

Scorer: Green (75).

Farsley Celtic: Trenerry, Digie, Butroid, Atkinson, Clayton, Turner, Hayhurst (Gratton 8, Walker (Belehouan 78), Parkin, Greaves, Mulhern.

Subs not used: Westcarr, Malumo, Jessop.

Cautioned: Greaves.

Scorer: Parkin (21).