The Bucks began 2026 with a bang by hammering Curzon Ashton 8-0 at the Tameside Stadium.

Match highlights

Match report

This was AFC Telford’s eighth visit to the Tameside Stadium, and having failed to win on any of their previous trips, there was a certain poetry in finally doing so with an emphatic 8-0 victory.

Kevin Wilkin’s men made a fast start to the game and hit the front in the 12th minute. After Remi Walker’s long range effort was tipped onto the bar by Callum Hawkins, Matty Stenson was quickest to respond and had the simple task of heading home into the empty net from from five yards out.

Five minutes later it was two. A lovely flowing move from the Bucks with Walker orchestrating started on the right on halfway and ended with Dylan Allen-Hadley drifting in off the left to calmly slot the ball back across Hawkins and into the bottom corner. And it didn’t take long for the Bucks to make it three. The Bucks won the ball back almost straight from the restart, with Alex Fletcher finding Khanya Leshabela, who drove on to the edge of the box before firing into Hawkins’ bottom right-hand corner.

That was Leshabela’s first goal for the club, and ten minutes later he doubled his tally. It began in similar fashion to his first strike, with the marauding midfielder striding forward through the middle of the pitch. The South African then slid in Walker, whose blocked effort fell perfectly for Leshabela to scoop the ball home from six yards out. 4-0 to the Bucks at half time.

At four goals to the good, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Wilkin’s men would ease off and manage the game to its conclusion. But the Bucks kept their foot to pedal as they looked to put their beleagured hosts to the sword, and a fifth goal arrived in the 49th minute. Hawkins had done well to tip Jamie Meddows’ effort over the bar, but from the following corner, Jordan Cranston’s delivery was flicked on and in at the near post by Stenson.

The sixth goal came just after the hour. Leshabela found Walker in the inside left channel who squared for an unmarked Meddows to slot home from the edge of the six yard box. And it was 7-0 in the 75th minute when Charlie Williams’ inswinging cross from the left was helped on its way by Ola Lawal, whose glancing header found Hawkins’ bottom left corner.

The Bucks capped a truly sensational performance with number eight in the 83rd minute. Ricardo Dinanga cut in from the left but couldn’t find a way through the Curzon defence, but the ball popped out to Jimmy Armson on the edge of the area, who looked to bend one across goal into the top corner. Armson’s effort may or may not have been going in, but it got a big deflection, which completely changed its trajectory with the ball ending up going in at the near post.

This was a wonderful performance from the Bucks to begin 2026. Wilkin’s men dominated the hosts from start to finish, and the 8-0 win was fully deserved. Victory sees the Bucks leapfrog Curzon and up to 10th in the table.

Match reaction