Kevin Wilkin hails his AFC Telford United super-subs after turnaround

Wilkin acknowledged his team’s performance had been ‘indifferent’, but praised their unity and application.

He said: “The guys have displayed a fantastic resilience there – a togetherness and a desire to go and work hard and fight for one another, and that really does extend through not just the first eleven, but the subs that got off the bench have had a really great effect there.

“I’m delighted that the lads have come through the game, and with the manner in which they have come through the game.”

Visiting Stourbridge were close to staging the perfect smash and grab, having led through Alex Prosser’s expertly-dispatched 61st-minute goal.

However, the Bucks fought back, stunning them with goals in the 85th and 87th minutes from Orrin Pendley and Ricardo Dinanga.

Pendley’s goal was his fifth of the season – the central defender backheeling an equaliser in a crowded six-yard box.

The Glassboys then had Harvey Portman dismissed for a second booking and, from the resulting free-kick, Dinanga picked up the pieces on the edge of the penalty area to strike home the winner – the goal’s significance matching its quality.

Scoring has been the Bucks’ Achilles heel, and Wilkin knows that one victory doesn’t mean the issue has been resolved.

He said: “I think it needs it does need some work, no doubt, but it’s nice that we can change the formation that we play and go in search of scoring extra goals – whether it’s down to shape, formation, personnel, hopefully we will unearth that but along the way continue to win games.”

Wilkin was typically candid after the game, admitting that his plan to support forward Reece Styche with attacking midfielders Byron Moore and Ellis Brown was an experiment that hadn’t worked.

Injury forced Moore out of the action before half-time and Brown had his least effective outing in a Bucks shirt, but Dinanga stepped up, delivering an excellent performance, capped by his sublime goal.

“That’s a that’s a fantastic finish, and it is the sexier of the two goals, no doubt about it,” he said. “The scruffy first goal we’ve scored by keeping the ball alive and working restart moments is really, really important to us.

“It doesn’t really matter how you score, it’s that you are scoring, and scoring on a regular basis – but we don’t score enough of those scruffy goals.”