The Bucks had to dig deep and found some quality and an awful lot of grit to secure a 2-1 victory over Harborough Town.

The opening exchanges saw the sides feel each other out, with the Bucks struggling to deal with Harborough’s pyschicality at times. But having got to grips with the Bees, the Bucks started to assert themselves on the game and were the dominant side for the rest of the half.

And that dominance was rewarded in the 31st minute, when Remi Walker curled a freekick around the wall and into the bottom corner to give the Bucks the lead. And Wilkin’s men nearly made it two moments later when Ricardo Dinanga and Byron Moore combined; some determined Harborough defending kept Moore at bay before Walker flashed the rebound just wide of the post. The Bucks went in at half time 1-0 up.

It was perhaps the Bucks’ best half of the season, but the Bees nearly hit back immediately just after the break. A long throw was flicked on by Ben Williams, but his header narrowly evaded Bees forward Tendai Daire before sliding just wide of the far post. Harborough were forcing the issue though, with substitute Kai Tonge causing the Bucks a good deal of trouble.

The Bees were on top, but the Bucks were standing strong and nearly doubled their lead when Dinanga broke away in the 66th minute. But under pressure from a defender, his shot crashed back off the underside of the bar. The pressure on the Telford goal was building though, and it eventually told in the 74th minute. A corner into the box caused havoc, and the referee saw something in the melee that made him point to the spot. Riley O’Sullivan stepped up and smashed the ball passed a rooted Brandon Hall.

Having fought hard to get level, the Harborough equaliser actually saw the momentum swing back to the Bucks. Elliott Taylor in the Bees’ goal did well to turn shots from Dinanga and then Gudger around the post, but from the resultant corner the Bucks made it 2-1. Walker’s delicious delivery found Dinanga, and who planted a header into the net in the 84th minute.

The rest of the game saw Harborough bombard the Bucks’ box with a succession of set pieces, and Town found the net again in the 91st minute. The ball squirted passed Hall after a scramble, but the goal was ruled out for a clear offside. The Bucks remained composed, stood firm and saw the game out to win 2-1. The three points lifts Wilkin’s men back up to 5th, two points behind leaders Kettering.