AFC Telford 1 Nuneaton 5 - Report and pictures

Midfielder Elliot Whitehouse opened his account in the fifth minute and completing his hat-trick after netting on 31 and 73 minutes, while Callum Chettle (48) made it 3-0 and Aaron Williams 4-1 on 66.

Chettle also hit the bar while Telford's lone reply came from Connor McCarthy.

Another worry for Telford will be the loss of captain McCone, who limped off with a recurrence of his knee injury after just 37 minutes.

Telford (4-3-3): Montgomery; Samuels, Tilt, McCone (Deaman 37), Campion; Hibbs, Rea, Paratore (Dawson 81); Hassan (Brownhill 75), Hibbert, McCarthy.

Subs not used: Flint, Wilkinson.

Nuneaton (4-4-2): Smith; Clifton, Lane, Maguire, C Keane (J Keane 75); Byrne, Morgan, Whitehouse (Reid 75), Chettle; Duffy (Harewood 70), Williams.

Subs not used: De La Paz, Daniels.

Referee: Peter Gibbons.

Attendance: 1,416.

Nuneaton finished the game with 10 men after Shane Byrne was sent off in the 83rd minute.

Telford boss Rob Smith made three changes to the side beaten 3-2 at Corby last week.

McCone, Jake Hibbs and Connor Hassan replaced Jack Deaman, former Nuneaton player Lucas Dawson and Sean Clancy.

McCone returned after tweaking medial knee ligaments, which kept him out of last Saturday's game, while Clancy, who has ankle ligament damage, started a three-match ban.

Hasaan was making his first start for the club since joining from Kidderminster Harriers, and his full debut heralded a switch in formation from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3, then quickly to a diamond formation with Jack Rea at the tip and Connor McCarthy behind the front two.

One-time £4m Villa striker Marlon Harewood was on the bench for Nuneaton.

Once the action got underway, Telford failed to get off to the in-your-face start demanded by assistant boss Larry Chambers.

Nuneaton cashed in by taking the lead with the first attack of the game.

It was a well-worked move too, as James Clifton advanced down to the right to cross, Robert Duffy headed it down and Whitehouse drilled home left-footed first time from 15 yards.

Keeper James Montgomery got close to it but the early strike and power beat him.

Nuneaton looked the better side for long periods after, but there were chances at both ends as Telford looked to respond.

McCarthy's 30-yarder was well held by keeper Jordan Smith in the ninth minute.

But Telford were lucky not to concede a second goal within 60 seconds as Chettle rattled the bar after his header forced a diving save from Montgomery following an awful header across his own box by Darren Campion.

Telford again pressed and McCarthy somehow missed Hassan's low centre right in front of goal, before David Morgan flashed a 30-yard drive just over.

The Bucks forced their first serious save in the 17th minute when McCarthy exchanged passes with Robert Paratore and saw an angled shot beaten away by Smith.

But all the good work was undone as Nuneaton doubled their lead just after the half hour mark.

Paratore slipped on the greasy turf in the left-back spot and Shane Byrne was onto it in a flash, crossing at the second attempt for Whitehouse, whose hooked effort found the top corner off the head of Dwayne Samuels.

Things went from bad to worse for Telford as McCone suddenly went down clutching his heavily-strapped injured knee on the halfway line as Nuneaton streamed forward.

Byrne's drive was smothered by Montgomery as McCone lay grounded in some discomfort.

After handing the armband to Dave Hibbert, he eventually limped to the touchline, clearly in distress to be replaced by Deaman in the 37th minute.

By now, the odds were stacked against a Telford comeback but they continued to look for an opening and almost got it in the 41st minute.

Paratore teed up McCarthy for a flick-up and volley which drew a superb reflex save from Smith, who stuck out a hand to tip it over.

From the resulting corner, Curtis Tilt headed over from close range and then became embroiled in a flashpoint with Nuneaton centre-back Joe Maguire before being booked, after which he continued to protest to referee Peter Gibbons.

Telford needed a reply before half-time or just after it to make a real game of it, but instead the next goal went to the visitors, three minutes after the break.

Deaman didn't get any height or much distance on his clearance and Chettle was onto it in a flash, advancing before rifling home a 25-yard drive that ripped past Montgomery.

McCarthy reduced the deficit when he rammed it in the roof of the net from close range after Paratore headed a free kick back into the danger area.

After Hibbert teed up Hassan to fire into Smith's arms, Nuneaton restored their three-goal cushion when Williams netted with a low drive from the edge of the box.

And they grabbed their second goal in eight minutes to make it 5-1 with a near carbon copy from Whitehouse to complete his hat-trick.

McCarthy saw an audacious 35-yarder tipped wide on 77 but things turned ugly on 83 when Byrne was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Jack Rea.