Telford's FA Trophy hopes over in qualifying rounds
In the village that is home to the famous Quorn hunt, Kevin Wilkin’s Bucks were hunted down and cornered to end their FA Trophy hopes.
Quorn served up an upset but deserved their victory, looking the much hungrier of the two sides and equalling their best-ever progress in the competition, one that thrilled their manager, former Buck Richard Lavery, writes Rich Worton.
Wilkin and the Bucks were left to pick over the bones of a performance that, rather appropriately, had very little meat on it. They barely tested Quorn’s goalkeeper, Charlie Woods, save for a Montel Gibson header that wouldn’t have counted even if he had managed to direct it either side of Woods, Gibson frustratingly straying offside.
While Quorn were worthy winners, it is perhaps a worrying sign that they didn’t have to be outstanding to claim victory. Their two goals were presented to them by poor Bucks defensive work that was punished efficiently by Courey Grantham and Charlie Marzano, and Lavery’s side then simply had to match the Bucks to maintain their lead.
Wilkin welcomed captain Fraser Kerr back into his starting XI after he was declared fit following a knee ligament strain, although defender Jared Hodgkiss and attacker Ricardo Dinanga were both sidelined by injuries sustained in the Bucks’ last fixture 11 days earlier.
The manager also started Tre Mitford and Twariq Yusuf, making a total of three changes, with Yusuf as a left wing-back in a defensive unit of five, an unfamiliar role for a more attack-minded player.
It was a move that failed to pay dividends, as Yusuf endured a difficult afternoon, up against Marzano, a right-back who clearly likes to supplement the attack.
The Bucks forced a couple of early corners from which they couldn’t capitalise, but when Quorn responded, they scored with virtually their first effort on target.
Grantham capitalised on some ponderous defensive play that originated on the Bucks’ left, to put Quorn ahead after just nine minutes, steering a shot past Brandon Hall from 12 yards when the hosts worked the ball infield and into the box from wide.
Off-target efforts from Gibson and Jordan Piggott were ‘hopeful’ rather than purposeful, but there was no genuine response from Kevin Wilkin’s team.
The Bucks appeared tentative, rarely putting pressure on the ball and allowing Quorn time to play. Marzano seemed keen to test Yusuf, perhaps sensing that the Bucks No.3 wasn’t wholly comfortable in his unfamiliar left-wing-back.
The Quorn man enticed Yusuf into some niggly confrontation, and must have felt he was getting the upper hand when Yusuf responded to having his ankle trodden on by jumping in wildly for a header when the two next came together, conceding a free-kick.
That action was to lead to the second goal. From the free-kick, midfielder Reece Fyfe looked to take advantage as the Bucks dallied and was only prevented from completing a quick one-two on the edge of the box by some panicky Bucks defensive work.
Alas the ball ran free to the left and left-back Silvio Bello, who made a beeline for the 18-yard box and was brought down to concede a penalty.
Fellow midfielder Cain Noble took the kick and in truth executed it poorly, allowing Brandon Hall to dive to his left and save.
The danger looked to have been averted, but controversy followed. Based on his subsequent protests, Hall must have felt he had the ball under his control; however, the combative Marzano pounced on hesitation to whip home the ‘loose’ ball to double the advantage.
Hall and captain Kerr’s protests to referee Will Murray were made in vain, and with just half an hour played, the Bucks were looking at the exit door.
Wilkin decided that something had to change, and he withdrew midfielder George Forsyth for the busier and more creative Ty Webster. Forsyth had played in a protective mask, having sustained a broken nose at Stourbridge, but despite having the look of an ancient warrior, he left the battlefield having had little influence.
The half ended with an incident that indicated how much Quorn had managed to get under the Bucks’ collective skin. As midfielder James McQuilkin tried to retrieve the ball from the Quorn dugout, manager Lavery appeared to impede him and grab his shirt, producing an angry response and the intervention of Orrin Pendley as the peacemaker. Lavery didn’t escape unpunished, collecting a yellow card.
The Bucks had been two goals down away from home in their previous game, which ended in a 2-2 draw. In that game, their revival had been kick-started by a response early in the second half, but although Wilkin’s men displayed more energy in the early stages of the second period, it rarely produced any goal threat.
Wilkin shuffled his side again, introducing Brad Bood for McQuilkin and pushing Yusuf forward into his more natural attacking position. Marzano was pinned back in his own half by the change. The Bucks generally began to enjoy more of the ball, but too often saw promising positions peter out or chose the wrong one out of the few options that offered themselves.
Remi Walker replaced Mitford and the injured Fyfe was replaced by Jack Samples for the hosts just before the hour.
In the 61st minute, Gibson eluded the home defence to thump a header from a free-kick straight at Woods, but he’d found the space by going too early, and was ruled offside.
Substitute Samples went close at the other end soon after, from the second of two free-kicks in quick succession for the hosts. The forward had an opportunity from 15 yards but his effort, which was poked goalwards, went past Hall’s right-hand and also his right-hand post.
Lavery’s team had matched them stride for stride to retain their advantage.
As the second half progressed and the Bucks began to make more errors in their desperation, Quorn got a second wind and could have added a third.
It took a foul on Bello just outside the box to stop him from getting into a dangerous position, and although he fell and writhed on the floor a good few yards inside the penalty area, the free-kick was awarded a couple of yards outside. One of either Kerr or Ellis Myles was booked for the offence, the referee’s indiscriminate wave of the yellow card not helping with the identification of the culprit. Five minutes were added to the game’s running time and brought one of Woods’ few moments of activity, as he dived to punch clear from Bood’s left-wing cross; that it took until added time before the Bucks even forced him to react hurriedly tells its own dismal story.
Quorn joy came at the final whistle, along with Bucks misery.
Wilkin’s side now have only the Southern Central Premier to concentrate on, which given that it is still not even mid-October is a prospect that some Bucks fans are finding unpalatable. It is an uncomfortable reminder of the Bucks’ current status that they have to start in the earlier rounds of the knockout competitions, but with no apparent change in their fortunes.
A victory in their next league game, at home to Stratford Town, is looking more and more a necessity if they are not to face a winter of discontent.
Telford: Hall, Myles, Yusuf, Piggott, Fraser, Pendley, McQuilkin (Bood 46), Forsyth (Webster 42), Mitford (Walker 57), Gibson, Moore. Subs not used: Scott (gk), Jones.
Quorn: Woods, Marzano, Bello, Bryant, Zito, Gough, Noble, Fyfe (Samples 57), Grantham, Shannon-Lewis, Wilson. Subs not used: Carney, Webb, Steele, Hilton.
