A slow start to the second half cost Kevin Wilkin’s Bucks as they slipped to a defeat in their second game of pre-season.
Goals from Cameron Ebbutt and Louie Monaghan put the Racers 2-0 up between the restart and the hour mark, and although Rhys Hilton pulled a goal back late in the contest, the Bucks were unable to restore parity.
Wilkin wasn’t thrilled with what he saw from his team, feeling that they played with insufficient intensity. It was hard to disagree with that assessment; they produced a much better final half-hour following Monaghan’s goal but didn’t work the Racers goalkeeper enough despite dominating possession.
The hosts, whose Townsend Meadow ground is tucked in alongside Warwick Racecourse, were promoted to Step 4 last season. The Bucks defeated them 3-1 in their first pre-season game of 2023/24, but the Racers looked a much better outfit twelve months later.
Former Buck Greg Mills was a fleet-footed 20-year-old in the 2010/11 promotion-winning side put together by Andy Sinton. There’s a little less pace to Mill’s game nowadays; however, he used his experience at the top end of the field for the Racers to occupy Orrin Pendley. He was one of several Bucks who looked a little way short of their best on the day.
Another familiar face was the evergreen Kelvin Langmead. The former Shrewsbury Town defender, now aged 39, helped marshal the home defence effectively.
Wilkin named a less experienced starting XI than he did for Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Darlaston Town, with a trialist at right-back and youth team tyro Harvey Solley on the left flank. Hilton played wide on the right, with Dior Angus the front-runner. Byron Moore, Jordan Piggott and Kyle Storer all started the game, having all been substitutes in midweek.
The game was reasonably even and a little pedestrian at times, although the home side certainly shaded it in terms of scoring opportunities.
Brandon Hall saved low at his near post from former Leamington man Connor Taylor, whereas the Bucks’ likeliest moments came from set pieces. The home side conceded a number of free-kicks within sight of goal, but Nathan Fox’s delivery wasn’t of the usual high standard.
Angus did have the ball in the net in the 25th minute when a defender misjudged the ball in flight and allowed Fox to advance and locate Angus ten yards from the goal. He brought the ball and slotted past the advancing keeper, but the flag had long since been raised.
Things were livening up, and Solley ghosted in at the far post to guide the ball narrowly wide from a diagonal ball that the defence either left or couldn’t get to.
Warwick responded, and Mills’ ball ‘around the corner’ to Taylor provided him the opportunity to release Monaghan. The forward beat the onrushing Hall to the ball, but his toe-poke bounced wide to the keeper’s right.
In the 37th minute, the Bucks spurned a gift-wrapped opportunity to take the lead. Piggott’s surge into the box brought a clear push from a defender. Piggott stumbled and tumbled, and the referee indicated a penalty kick with few arguments.
Storer took responsibility but failed to test the keeper, dragging his spot-kick wide of the keeper’s right-hand post.
TELFORD COPYRIGHT Mike Sheridan – PENALTY. Kyle Storer shoots from the spot for Telford bus his penalty goes wide during the pre-season friendly fixture between AFC Telford United and Racing Club Warwick at Townsend Meadow on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
With the scores level at the interval, Wilkin made five substitutions, introducing Ellis Myles, Remi Walker, Jimmy Armson, Ellis Brown and Matty Stenson. They had barely had time to pick up the pace of the game when the Racers took the lead.
It was a failure to clear their lines that cost the Bucks. Despite having plenty of bodies in their own 18-yard box, blond midfielder Ebbutt returned a clearance that lacked distance towards goal. His shot may have taken a deflection, and its flight took it past the plummeting Hall, who dived to his left but couldn’t prevent it from finding his net.
The Bucks looked for an immediate response, with Walker looking to orchestrate their reply; however, within six minutes, they conceded again.
The Racers seized possession when a poor pass from the ordinarily reliable Pendley fell short, and they were, almost literally, off to the races. The Bucks were undermanned as they galloped goalwards, and Monaghan finished the move from close range, meeting a cross from the left-hand side.
Wilkin’s body language spoke volumes; the Bucks boss hates to lose despite his affable demeanour, and he wasn’t enamoured with what he had seen.
Whether they sensed this or simply felt their pride hurt, Wilkin’s side began to play with greater intensity.
Brown, who missed pre-season in 2023 with an injury and only arrived at the Bucks in December, looks to be in excellent shape, physically and mentally. He was more prominent on the left, linking up well with Fox. Hilton and Myles did similarly on the right, and with both Stenson and Angus on the field, the Bucks sought to exploit spaces out wide.
Walker and Armson were beginning to tick over, but despite having most of the possession, the Bucks too often took one touch too many within sight of the goal or couldn’t find the final ball they sought.
Stenson headed a couple of opportunities off target, and the home defence was at their busiest to deny his teammates.
The breakthrough came eventually, in the 84th minute. Hilton was the man on target, adding to the goal that he scored at Darlaston with a good finish wide of the keeper to his left. The ball sat up nicely to be struck across him and in after a move down the left involving Brown.
TELFORD COPYRIGHT Mike Sheridan – Rhys Hilton during the pre-season friendly fixture between AFC Telford United and Racing Club Warwick at Townsend Meadow on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
The Bucks pushed for a leveller, which might have been deserved on the balance of things, but Whittall headed over when reasonably positioned, and Walker fired a rising shot over from 20 yards after good footwork from both he and Brown had kept the move alive.
The Racers kept their lead, and there were no real complaints about the result from Wilkin. Having gained the whip hand to establish an advantage of a couple of furlongs, they had kept their noses in front despite the Bucks mounting a late charge.
Was this a disappointing outcome for the Bucks? Of course, because everyone likes to win. Is there work to do before 10th August? Certainly. Should anyone read too much into this result and performance? Probably not.
TELFORD COPYRIGHT Mike Sheridan – Kevin Wilkin during the pre-season friendly fixture between AFC Telford United and Racing Club Warwick at Townsend Meadow on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
After the game, Kevin Wilkin shared some reflections on events and felt that too many of his team performed at a lower standard than expected:
“We didn’t have the intensity about us today that I would expect us to play with. We’ve got one or two new players there and one or two trialists involved in it, but overall there was a lack of intensity across the board. Some players have done OK, three or four, but outside of that, I think there were big areas for improvement from lots of the players.”
Asked whether that might be a subconscious impact of playing a side from a division below, Wilkin felt that wasn’t the case:
“I think the game was a little bit slow and a little bit comfortable at times for us, but credit to Warwick; they’ve done the most important thing and stuck the ball in the back of the net twice. Some of our passing from players that we have been able to trust for long periods was poor today. The intensity that certain players need to bring to their game and that we expect from their game wasn’t there today, and it can be difficult. You can lose your way a little bit and I think there were periods where I felt we did lose our way.”
Although disappointed with the outcome, the Bucks boss was able to frame the defeat and performance as an opportunity to understand his team better:
“You’re always learning and increasing your understanding about players and how they deal with certain situations… who can hold situations together at certain crucial times and whether a player has that in his armoury. A few were too accepting of what was happening around them today, and there were a few words in the dressing room afterwards from the players themselves about demanding more of one another.”
Kyle Storer’s uncharacteristic failure from the penalty spot might have put a different complexion on matters, and Wilkin felt that moment was a microcosm of the Bucks’ afternoon:
“I think the penalty kind of summed up our first-half performance; it’s just a poor moment. If we’d scored, the outcome could be different. We’ve scored a good goal (through Rhys Hilton), but I think that’s the one time in the game where we’ve worked the target and with great respect (to Warwick), we’d expect to be working their goalkeeper a lot more than we were today.”
“They’ve big lads at the back there that become hard to break down. They’re hard to move around if you don’t move the ball quickly. I don’t want to make an excuse about the surface. It can slow down when it gets dry and warm, and there’s a lack of moisture on it, and it can be quite difficult to bring a tempo to your game on those surfaces when there’s a lot of rubber on them, but that would be me making excuses. You have to give Warwick credit; they’ve done the thing you have to do, and that’s to stick the ball in the back of the net better than we did today, and they deserved their win.”
