Below-par Scarborough Athletic slump to 4-1 defeat at AFC Telford United
Showing three changes from the 2-0 win against Leamington (Michael Duckworth, Dom Tear and Alex Wiles replacing Jack Waldron, Harry Green and Rio Allan), Boro started brightly and were on top for the opening 20 minutes before fading badly, as Telford took control to pick up only their third league win of the season. Boro played some nice football in the early stages, Will Thornton’s long ball forward was flicked on by Ste Walker to Wiles, who teed up a shot for Walker that was blocked by Jordan Piggott, then Alex Purver and Tear, making his 150th appearance for the club, combined to send Alex Brown racing down the left, and his low cross flashed across the goalmouth. A Lewis Maloney corner was palmed off the head of Luca Colville by keeper Josh Gracey, and a Tear through-ball to Ste Walker was intercepted by Oliver Bandres. Telford gradually took charge of the game, Jamie Meddows blazed over, Charlie Williams fired into the arms of Boro keeper Ryan Whitley, skipper Alex Fletcher had a shot blocked by Duckworth, and Meddows passed to Matty Stenson in the area, but Brown slid in with a great tackle. On the half hour Boro were awarded a free-kick inside the Telford box when keeper Gracey picked up a back-pass, with Purver laying off to Maloney, whose shot was deflected out for a corner. Telford pressure just before the interval saw Duckworth block a strike from Remi Walker, and Piggott fired straight at Whitley. Green replaced the injured Wiles during the interval, and it was Telford who dictated play for most of the second half. Meddows shot into the chest of Whitley and Kieran Weledji did well to block a fierce Remi Walker strike, but it was Boro who opened the scoring on 62 minutes when Purver sent over a corner to the back post, and Thornton’s header was scrambled off the goal-line, with Colville slamming in the loose ball through a crowd of players, but the hosts levelled within two minutes, as Remi Walker fed Meddows in the area, and he smashed a ferocious shot in off the crossbar. Telford were now dominant, Brown cut out Ammar Dyer’s through-ball to Meddows, Weledji tackled Remi Walker when he raced into the area and Ricardo Dinanga had a shot held by Whitley. They went ahead when Jordan Cranston laid off to Remi Walker, who fired inside the right-hand post, then Walker added another to make it 3-1, his first shot was blocked by Thornton, but he directed the rebound into the bottom left corner. A Green cross was headed wide by Weledji, Ste Walker latched onto a ball forward from Thornton, but his shot was blocked by Cranston, and sub Zane Myers showed some nice touches as Boro tried to fight back, but Telford added a fourth goal, when Dinanga dribbled into the box, and struck a low shot inside the left-hand post. TELFORD - Gracey, Piggott, Cranston, Fletcher (c), Williams (Dinanga 69), Stenson (George 76), Meddows (Armson 90), Bandres, Leshabela (Rowe 89), R.Walker (Hilton 88), Dyer, unused subs - Harper, Lawal. BORO - Whitley, Duckworth (Myers 78), Brown, Weledji, Thornton (c), Purver, Tear (Waldron 63), Maloney (Allan 56), S.Walker (Chapman 86), Wiles (Green 46), Colville, unused sub - Marshall. REFEREE - Scott Henry. TELFORD GOALS - Jamie Meddows 64, Remi Walker 73, 79, Ricardo Dinanga 88; BORO GOAL - Luca Colville 62. GOAL ATTEMPTS - TELFORD 14 (9 on target) BORO 6 (2 on target). CORNERS - TELFORD 6 BORO 6. OFFSIDES - TELFORD 1 BORO 1. YELLOW CARDS - Jordan Cranston, Matty Stenson (Telford), Lewis Maloney, Dom Tear, Harry Green, Ryan Whitley, Alex Purver (Boro). BORO MAN OF MATCH - Alex Brown. ATTENDANCE - 1,276 (104 away).