Banbury 1 Telford 2 - Report
It may prove to be too little, too late, but a second away victory of the season kept AFC Telford United alive in National League North a little longer.
Second-half goals from Lewis Salmon and Kai Williams rewarded a performance that overturned a half-time deficit and made light of the dismissal of defender Luke Burke in the 25th minute, writes Rich Worton.
The hosts profited almost immediately from seeing the Bucks reduced to 10 men, but have been in a dreadful run of form of late.
As their anxieties began to surface, Kevin Wilkin’s side began to solve the majority of the problems the Puritans were able to set them, and although they also enjoyed a slice or two of luck, it would have been unjust if they had left Oxfordshire empty-handed.
The hosts made a more positive start and Ben Acquaye fired a deflected shot over the bar to the right-hand side of Bucks keeper Joe Young.
Acquaye was to be a pivotal figure, as he had been when drawing two yellow cards from Jamie Allen when the Bucks had defeated the Puritans 2-1 in early December.
On this occasion, he was some distance from the penalty area when Burke launched a strong but unmalicious tackle, which he mistimed, catching the Banbury man.
A yellow card ought to have been the end of the matter, but referee McQuillan, perhaps influenced by Acquaye staying prone on the floor, suddenly dashed over and showed Burke a red card.
The Bucks protested in vain, and Burke had to depart.
Wilkin’s side hadn’t regrouped when, in the 29th minute, Acquaye gave Banbury the lead.
Some tidy play located Acquaye and Jordan Piggott wasn’t close enough to close him down, the winger shooting low past Young from the edge of the box and into the far corner.
Forward Lewis Salmon was employed to fill the gap left by Burke, and you began to fear for the Bucks.
The fear was greater than the reality, however, as Banbury – perhaps feeling they were now in control – slackened off.
Wilkin confessed after the game to feeling it necessary to deliver some harsh words to his team, and they brought a response.
The Bucks were now having to operate as a more counter-attacking side, the midfield tasked with supporting lone front-runner Montel Gibson as swiftly as possible once in possession. In the 59th minute, the Bucks drew level.
The home side was caught out when a free-kick into the box was half-cleared to Gibson, whose right-footed shot-come-cross towards the far post dropped over the defence and the alert Salmon dived in courageously to head past Harding from close range.
Salmon’s colleagues congratulated the slightly dazed Nottingham Forest loanee, who appeared to get a bang of the head to go with his goal.
That goal sparked the away side, and they went close again in the 66th minute.
Gibson found Salmon with a diagonal ball over the defence and, although he couldn’t deliver a precise cross, the ball fell for Prince Ekpolo whose shot was deflected just wide of Jack Harding’s right post.
Banbury began to stir, but from a United corner the Bucks were to score a stunning end-to-end goal to take the lead.
Gibson nodded the corner away to the edge of the box where Simeon Maye lost out to a more determined Williams, and suddenly the break was on.
Moore took the ball on and then threaded it to a sprinting Williams, who was on the edge of the centre circle inside his own half when he received it.
Having been a promising hurdler, Williams’ legs ate up the ground in seconds and Harding had no choice to but to come off his line to try and halt him.
Williams showed an immense presence of mind to simply slip the ball between Harding’s legs and into the net.
That goal prompted Banbury to throw themselves into the search for an equaliser, and it was a combination of luck and gutsy defending that stopped them from finding it.
Acquaye found a cross from the left of the box that picked out Henry Landers, arriving unmarked, but his header across Young bounced off the inside of the base of the post and clear.
Tom Costello then swept the ball wide when it looked easier to score.
The heavens opened and the final minutes were played in a downpour, with Acquaye firing a low shot wastefully wide from inside the box and Young saving from former Shrewsbury Town man Kelvin Langmead.
Three minutes of added time were negotiated safely, and the Bucks had earned a stay of execution, rewarding their travelling fans for their loyalty.
Telford: Young, Burke, Livingstone, Piggott, Cameron, Moore, Evans, Ekpolo, Salmon (Nolan 80), Williams, Gibson (Daniels 85). Subs not used: Bood, Rowe.
