The Bucks fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Marine on Tuesday night.

Match highlights

Match report

Kevin Wilkin’s men started the game well and were the better side in the first half. That said, there weren’t too many clear cut chances in the opening 45 minutes. The Bucks went close on 22 minutes when a corner caused chaos in the box, but the Bucks couldn’t turn the ball home. But Wilkin’s men did take the lead in the 34th minute thanks to Ammar Dyer’s first goal for the club. After Alex Fletcher played a ball into the right channel, good pressure from Adan George led to Marine giving up possession to the advancing Dyer, who carried the ball into the box before clipping home over McIntyre.

The Bucks went into half time 1-0 up, and Wilkin’s men had looked in control of the game, limiting the Mariners to very few chances in the first half. After the break was a very different story, though. Wilkin’s men never got going in the second period, as the hosts upped their intensity and eventually worked their way back into the game.

Marine had been ratcheting up the pressure on the Bucks, and it finally told on the hour mark when George Newell was put clean through, and the Mariners’ centre forward coolly finished past the Bucks’ debutant goalkeeper Harvey Randle.

Three minutes later and the host had turned the scoreline on its head. Fin Sinclair-Smith’s freekick from the left found the head of Newell, who directed his header wide of Randle for his and Marine’s second goal of the game.

And that was pretty much that. With a 2-1 lead, Marine set their stall out to hold onto their advantage, which they did without too much trouble. Having looked the far likelier side in the first half, the Bucks struggled to create even a half chance, as the game rather fizzled out from a Telford perspective. Charlie Williams did have the ball in the back of the net in added time, but an offside flag saw the goal quickly chalked off.

It was a disappointing second half, especially given how controlled the Bucks had been in the first 45 (albeit without creating a glut of chances). But the hosts outfought the Bucks for 15 minutes after the break and then saw out the rest of the game to win 2-1.

Match reaction