Bucks shake off rustiness to stretch unbeaten streak

Six of those nine matches have ended in victories, and they collected three more points thanks to goals from Montel Gibson and Jordan Piggott in a solid display.

It was by no means flawless, but that can and probably should be taken as a positive.

They overcame a St Ives side who posed them problems, and while this was not a sparkling display, Wilkin’s side showed that they are acquiring that handy quality of finding the answers even when they are not collectively on top form.

The Bucks did not meet a man with seven wives, but they did meet one with six wins, consecutively, in St Ives manager Ricky Marheineke.

The Cambridgeshire side looked a better outfit than they did when the Bucks defeated them 3-2 in September and arrived both confident and in good form.

Having been inactive since November 18, the Bucks were up against a team ready to take full advantage of any rustiness.

Wilkin named an unchanged starting XI from the 0-0 draw with Hitchin Town last time out, with the bonus of being able to name club captain Fraser Kerr on the substitutes’ bench – his first game in almost two months.

The visitors, clearly buoyed by their recent successes, were determined to give as good as they got, and with the Bucks facing into a blustery wind in the first half, Wilkin’s side needed to be solid.

The visitors’ set-piece threat was evident, whether corners, free-kicks, or the long throw of left-back Aaron Smith – however, the Bucks’ defence, marshalled by Sam Whittall and Orrin Pendley, was equal to it.

Pendley, on his 28th birthday, produced a great piece of defending to hook the ball clear in his six-yard box when a header from a 10th-minute corner headed dangerously towards goal.

The Bucks’ reply to that effort was a shot from Gibson, which he hooked over his shoulder after receiving the ball with his back to goal from Ellis Myles. Gibson’s effort lacked power but was almost pounced upon by Ricardo Dinanga on its way into the gloves of keeper Dan Brearey, the attacker sliding in but unable to make contact.

The teams traded shots from a distance. Myles, playing in front of Jared Hodgkiss in a right midfield role, decided to shoot from 30 yards, clearing Brearey’s bar, and Ives skipper Michael Richens did likewise; his initial effort from a free-kick struck the defensive wall, and his shot with his other foot when the ball rebounded to him cleared the stadium roof.

Soon after, a Michael Richens free-kick from wide on the right only flicked off the top of Callum Milne’s head at the far post, going wide, but the Bucks were to go closer still in the 23rd minute from a similar situation.

A free-kick on the left sought out the head of Sam Whittall, and his goal-bound effort at the near post was cleared off the line and up onto the crossbar before finding safety with Brearey all at sea.

As the game reached its half-hour mark, the Bucks made the breakthrough. Dinanga and Nathan Fox caused problems down the left and when Reece Styche nodded down Fox’s cross, Gibson pounced at the second attempt, lashing the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Gibson hadn’t found the net since his injury-time winner against the same side on September 9, and his delight at ending his lean spell was evident.

Richens almost replied immediately, when a free-kick was awarded in the ‘D’ of the Bucks penalty area. The Ives captain was a scorer in the game between the sides in early autumn and showed a propensity for shooting from long range.

His powerful blast pierced the Bucks’ defensive wall, but Brandon Hall parried the ball away to safety.

Before the interval, Gibson collected the Bucks’ third yellow card of the half, adding to cards for Styche and Whittall when he inadvertently caught Jordan Williams with a raised arm.

The half ended with his striking partner Styche collecting a short corner and just failing to lift an angled chip shot over Brearey and into the far corner, the ball dropping the wrong side of the bar.

Early in the second half, the Bucks moved into a two-goal lead, and history repeated itself once more as another of their scorers in the victory in September found the net.

Piggott, wearing the armband in Kerr’s absence, had expended a lot of energy for the cause, although his impact had been limited.

He put that right when the Bucks were awarded a free-kick on the left wing – Fox delivered another swinging cross, and Piggott arrived towards the far post to steer the ball past Brearey for his fourth goal of the season with a pinpoint header.

For a few seconds, the visitors looked set to wobble, but they regained their composure and set about trying to claw their way back into the contest.

Cambridge United loanee Dan Barton belied his slight frame with some lovely touches and drive, and he cut through the Bucks defence, only to see Hall save his strong effort.

With fellow Cambridge loanee Brandon Njoku a lively foil for the imposing No.9, Jonathan Edwards, they kept pressing and in the 63rd minute, a mistimed challenge in the box saw St Ives awarded a soft penalty.

Unlike his namesake, Edwards didn’t perform a hop, skip, and jump, but did take an age in his run-up, which was almost a walk-up, so deliberately did he take each step. He eventually arrived at the ball and fired the ball high to beat Hall’s dive to his right.

That goal set up a tense finish, although the Bucks looked far less vulnerable than they have for a long time under such pressure.

St Ives should have levelled when Edwards was found at the far post by a precise cross following a short corner routine, but he inexplicably headed the ball down and wide of Hall’s left post with the keeper floundering.

Dinanga collected a foot injury and had to leave the field, and referee Tom Swift incurred the anger of many Bucks fans when he was oblivious to Dinanga’s requests to return to the field as St Ives sought to exploit their numeric advantage.

Both sides made substitutions, in the hope that fresh legs might help them attain the desired outcome. Dinanga dragged a low shot wide of Brearey’s right post and Piggott saw a deflected shot go wide for a corner after Myles’ enterprise and industry saw him draw several defenders to him with a penalty box surge.

Hall saved a late Richens 25-yarder and although the visitors continued to apply pressure, particularly through the long throws of Smith, the Bucks held firm to close the game out successfully.

AFC Telford United: Hall, Myles, Fox, Piggott, Pendley, Whittall, Dinanga, Walker, Gibson, Styche, Hodgkiss. Subs: Jones, Forsyth, Webster.

St Ives Town: Brearey, Harris, Smith, Richens, Williams, Casey, Barton, Cowling, Edwards, Njoku, Milne. Subs: Mensah, Hotter.