AFC Telford United 2 Halesowen 0: Boxing Day cheer for Bucks
First-half goals from Matty Stenson and Ricardo Dinanga put the Bucks in the box seat on Boxing Day in a potentially pivotal Southern Central Premier clash, and that proved to be sufficient to claim maximum reward for Kevin Wilkin’s team.
It was a third-versus-second meeting at the SEAH Stadium, with the Bucks eager to close the gap on Halesowen to a single point with a victory.
The early stages were open and well-contested, but the Bucks slowly began to exert control, and in the 20th minute, they took the lead.
A foul by Musa Ceesay led to a free-kick, and when the ball was partially cleared to Stenson, he swivelled on to his left foot and lashed the ball into Platt's top right-hand corner.
The Bucks thought they had a second goal just four minutes later when Sam Whittall headed in from a corner, but the goal was ruled out for a foul.
Halesowen steadied the ship and appeared to be coming back into the game.
Conor Tee, a Bucks target last season, had a low shot that was headed for Brandon Hall's bottom left-hand corner deflect off the heel of Whittall, and Jack Hickman arrived to direct a header wide to Hall’s left after some patient play.
However, the Bucks doubled their advantage in the first minute of first-half injury time.
Another corner did the damage, and when the away side couldn't clear, Dinanga had the simplest of tasks to swivel in the six yard box and finish low through a crowd of players.
Facing an uphill task, Halesowen tried but didn't appear to know how to unlock a Bucks defence who kept their shape and discipline and worked hard or afternoon to close them down.
The better chances of the second half once again fell to the home side. Dinanga’s confidence running with a ball at his feet had the visitors back-pedalling frequently. Walker’s industry and craft in midfield supplemented his colleague, with Stenson and Ellis Brown also proving a handful for the Yeltz defence.
The closing stages went end-to-end, but again, it was the Bucks creating the better opportunities on the counter-attack and they fully deserved their victory.
AFC Telford United: Hall, Myles, Piggott, Hawkins, Pendley, Whittall (c), Walker, Armson, Stenson (Styche 832), Dinanga, Brown. Subs not used: Gudger, Storer, Morris.
Halesowen Town: Platt, Hickman (Cassidy 71’), Mitchell, Smile (Njie 89’), Willetts, Wollacott, Parker, Tee (Wragg 71’), Donnelly, Ceesay (Cameron 45’) Manning. Sub not used: Kelly.
Attendance: 2,047 (339 from Halesowen).
