The Bucks turned in a stirring second half display to comeback and beat Altrincham 4-3, with Matty Stenson bagging two goals to become AFC Telford United’s outright all time top scorer.

Match highlights

Match report

In the first half, there was little sign of what was to come, as the visitors looked every inch the National League Premier side. The Robins raced into a 6th minute lead when Lucas Weaver pulled the ball back to Jimmy Knowles on the right of the box, and Alty’s top scorer turned and fired a low shot into Josh Gracey’s bottom-right corner. Weaver and Knowles both denied by good saves by Gracey before Knowles made it 2-0 on 36 minutes. With the Bucks temporarily down to ten men due to an injury to Dylan Allen-Hadley, Gracey made a tremendous save to keep out Tylor Golden, but Weaver kept the ball alive and Knowles fired home into the roof of the net.

Altrincham were completely outplaying the Bucks and were well worth their lead. In truth it could, and perhaps should, have been more, but the sides went in at half time with the Robins 2-0 up.

After the break it was a different story. Kevin Wilkin brought on Jordan Cranston for Rhys Hilton in a tactical change that seemed to bamboozle the visitors with the Bucks coming out swinging. Wilkin’s men were well and truly back in the contest in the 53rd minute; Adan George racing onto Stenson’s superb through ball down the right and lifting it over onrushing Alty keeper, Luke Hutchinson.

The goal fired up the Telford faithful, and it felt like a proper knockout tie now, with Bucks in the ascendcy and the visitors visibly rocked back. Wilkin’s men’s hunt for an equaliser saw Matty Stenson fire just over the bar, while Oliver Cawthorne had his overhead kick cleared off the line. Khayna Leshabela then had the ball in the net, but the referee’s whistle cut the Bucks’ celebrations short.

The Bucks were on top and looking good, so it was something of a sickener then when Oliver Crankshaw made it 3-1 to the visitors. Knowles sent Crankshaw away down the left, who cut inside and hit a shot into the bottom corner with the help of a deflection.

But despite the setback, this Telford team never give up and you always felt the Bucks were still in this one. Wilkin’s men continued to take the game to the Robins and got themselves back within striking distance in the 80th minute; Jimmy Armson heading home Cranston’s corner from close range. One minute later, the Bucks were level – and level in some style. Stenson driving forward with the ball, throwing in a couple of stepovers before hitting a brilliant low strike past Hutchinson from the edge of the box. It was a fittingly stunning goal that saw Stenson take his tally to 57 to become AFC Telford United’s outright all time top scorer.

With the game looking like it was heading to penalties, Stenson won the ball back on Robins’ right, and with the Alty defence backing off, he carried the ball forward to the edge of the D and struck a wonderful left-foot effort that arced into the top corner to give the Bucks a 4-3 lead in the 93rd minute. It was a remarkable turnaround from the Bucks, who had been 3-1 down with just ten minutes to go, but there was still time for more drama. Deep into added time, Crankshaw had the ball in the net for the visitors once more, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

This truly was a game of two halves in which the Bucks turned in arguably both their best and the worst halves of the season. It ended up as one of the great victories though, and Wilkin’s men take their place in the hat for Round Four.

Match reaction