Hitchin 3 Telford 3: Bucks held in six goal thriller

A draw on the road at the league’s second-bottom outfit undoubtedly felt like two points lost rather than a point gained AFC Telford United, who surrendered a lead on three occasions in this contest in Hertfordshire.

Among the positives were that the Bucks continued to find the net, having only failed to find the target in two matches all season, and an extension of their current unbeaten run to six matches.

The obvious negative from this game was their defensive work, which undid their efforts in the other penalty area.

Having established a slender lead by half-time, the Bucks saw it unravel in a frenetic final 15 minutes at Top Field. The hosts levelled before the Bucks retook the lead, only to concede a late penalty that Hitchin converted successfully.

The game had started with a lack of real energy from the Bucks. Asking for the reasons behind that would yield various answers, all of them valid.

Was it the effort they expended just two days earlier to defeat Halesowen? The coach journey to Hitchin? A feeling that this was a game they ought to win? The chances are it was a combination of all of them.

Kevin Wilkin named an unchanged side, understandably. The manager’s options aren’t inexhaustible with a small squad, but similarly, giving a vote of confidence to those players who performed so well against Halesowen might have been on his mind.

Hitchin, under different management since the similarly crazy 5-4 defeat they suffered to the Bucks in August, are fighting hard to overcome circumstances out of their control.

Relegated last season, they were reprieved when Coalville Town resigned from the division, but having already recruited for Step 4. Former manager Brett Donnelly saw them lose their first eight games. He was eventually replaced by Michael Jones, and his team look younger and more energetic, even if they didn’t produce the required quality consistently.

Hitchin were prepared to run, and they gave the Bucks some awkward moments in an opening spell.

An early misjudgement from keeper Brandon Hall conceded a corner, and when it wasn’t dealt with, the Bucks were fortunate that it fell to central defender Lewis Barker, who rocketed the ball into orbit over Hall’s crossbar.

The Bucks were having trouble getting out of their own half, but at the 20-minute mark, they woke up.

Jimmy Armson’s neat footwork earned a corner that resulted in a blocked Orrin Pendley shot.  However, under a minute later, they had the lead.

Seb Stacey’s goal-kick was returned quickly by Ellis Myles’ forward ball, and Matty Stenson rose to flick on ahead of a defender. Ricardo Dinanga read his colleague’s header and slipped away from the Hitchin rearguard, putting himself one-against-one with Stacey. The keeper advanced, but Dinanga slipped the ball under him for the opener.

The Bucks sought to seize the moment, and soon after, Stacey had to push away Stenson’s header, from Harry Hawkins’ cross.

After having the better of the early play but conceding, how the younger Hitchin side might respond to adversity was telling, and they showed their character by equalising in the 28th minute.

The Bucks aided them with some laxity at the back. A Hitchin throw into the box found the alert Dan Stokoe, who lost his marker Armson and floated a simple cross into the centre, where Harry Titchmarsh got in front of Dinanga to head home.

But the Bucks responded to the goal and regained the lead in the 40th minute, and another swift attack undid the hosts.

Armson released Dinanga down the left, he hared away before picking out Remi Walker’s run; the midfielder still had a lot to do, but his composure created the shooting chance, with a Hitchin defender diving in to block, Walker let the Canary flap past him and switched the ball back on to his right before drilling it low past Stacey.

Before half-time arrived, the hosts’ Bradley Bell twice fired efforts over Hall’s crossbar.

Bell rang out another warning early in the second half, cutting in from the right to find Hall’s side netting before the Bucks responded.

Brown and Walker combined on the right, and the move ended with left-back Jordan Piggott striking a low shot wide.

Hitchin were finding success down the sides of the Bucks’ defence, and from another testing moment, Titchmarsh volleyed over the bar.

The Bucks’ lack of real control on matters was emphasised by a period of play where they simply couldn’t clear the ball well enough to relieve Hitchin’s pressure, and they almost paid for it when a Canary fired a low shot across Hall from the right of the box but also wide of his far post.

Sensing they needed to quell the danger, Wilkin withdrew Hawkins, switched Piggott to midfield, and introduced left-back Jordan Cranston.

It didn’t pay immediate dividends. The Bucks sat deep and were potentially happy to allow Hitchin possession, aiming to draw them on and counter-attack.

If that was the plan, it didn’t truly come to fruition, although it took a 63rd-minute save from Stacey to deny Pendley and keep Hitchin in the game.

The game became more open, and Stacey made a fine save low to his right to deny Dinanga.

Both sides substituted, and both were to get dividends from the changes, but Hitchin’s were greater.

Possession lost by Myles gave Hitchin a chance to respond and Luke Stokoe, 30 yards out, evaded Piggott’s attentions to advance five yards and smash a low finish to Hall’s left into the bottom corner.

The goal came in the 78th minute, setting up a period of pandemonium and purgatory for Wilkin’s team.

Two minutes later, Reece Styche earned a free-kick on the right, and from another Cranston delivery, the substitute got ahead of a pack of players to head the ball over Stacey, restoring the lead.

A goal so soon after levelling could have been decisive, but the hosts hit back.

Myles opted not to head the ball clear, which allowed Bradley Dixon-Smith to get around him on the outside and cross low to the near post. Pendley slid in to block but was assessed to have handled the ball by referee Tolu Sangowawa, and he awarded a penalty kick.

Substitute Henry Snee took responsibility and  battered the ball to Hall’s right as the keeper dived to his left, restoring parity.

Snee’s goal left five minutes plus an additional six minutes of added time for the Bucks to respond and their final push for a winner almost brought redemption for Pendley, as he met a Cranston free-kick, but volleyed his effort wide.

It was a difficult chance, but he had shed his marker and may feel he should have hit the target or worked Stacey at least.

There’s no doubt that the Bucks let Hitchin off the hook, and the hope has to be that dropping points in such a manner doesn’t prove costly in the final table.

AFC Telford United: Hall, Myles, Piggott, Hawkins, Pendley, Whittall (c), Walker, Armson, Stenson (Styche 76’), Dinanga, Brown. Subs not used: Gudger, Storer, Morris.