Kevin Wilkin happy after tough Telford test

The Bucks had to work hard and preserved an unbeaten run extending to eight matches, but

manager Kevin Wilkin’s mood reflected an acknowledgement that anything less than a victory was

unsatisfactory.

“We found ourselves in a difficult place. It's not the ideal result for us, but the way the lads go about

their work and keep fighting and scrapping and end up taking something from the game is a little bit

similar to last week (a 2-2 draw at St Ives Town). It's a tough surface on which to play; it became very

route one, and too many times, the centre-halves on both sides were having to head too many balls.

It was a bit scruffy and agricultural, but we have to get on with that and deal with that, you can't

make that an excuse. You have to show enough to be able to get through games like this on difficult

surfaces.”

Neither team was able to show much quality in a dour contest where chances were at a premium.

Wilkin gave a full debut to Dylan Allen-Hadley, who had few opportunities. It was conceding an

opening goal to substitute Jack Newall in the 73 rd minute that spurred the Bucks into a spell of

concerted pressure that led to Luke Rowe’s equaliser, and Wilkin accepted that his team had to

forgo the niceties to get some reward from a tough contest.

“I think there are times where we passed the ball quite well and one or two moments when we've

gone really close, but equally some moments where Bromsgrove have gone close and will probably

feel disappointed they haven';t finished the game. We understand that, and they continued to scrap

and battle and do the right things and credit to them; so did we, and we've made changes, and the

lads we’ve got onto the pitch have had a good effect. I think possibly a draw is a fair result. There are

certain moments there where we could have moved the game away from one another, and it’s not

ideal, but then it's not the worst result in the world.”

Bucks keeper Brandon Hall had denied his former colleague Reece Styche with the game’s clearest

chance just before half-time, with Jahdahn Fridye-Harper, who made an impressive full debut,

combining with Hall to thwart Styche. Hall made an agile triple save to halt Jamie Meddows and Fin

Holmes, only for Newall to score in the 73rd minute with his first touch of the ball, introduced in a

double substitution a minute earlier.

The Bucks created enough pressure in the dying minutes to earn a free-kick that Rowe headed home

past his former colleague Charlie Price. Rowe made the switch to the Bucks from Sporting only a

couple of weeks ago, and it was almost poetic that he’d be the man to deny his old team a victory.

Wilkin confessed that his scoring wasn’t what he’d signed Rowe for but felt the goal exemplified his

leadership qualities.

“He never gives up, and that’s the reason why I gave him the armband. It’s no slight on any other

player, but yeah, he is a leader who wants to lead. He wants to step forward. He wants to hopefully

pull the group together and bind it together a whole lot tighter, which is great for me. He’s very well

thought of here (Bromsgrove). We understand what he's capable of, and he had a really good game

alongside Harry (Hawkins) today. I thought the pair of them were competitive and really brave.”

The Bucks sit two points off the top of the Southern League Premier Central table, which Bedford

Town heads. They were inactive on Saturday and saw a point for the Bucks, a victory for Halesowen

Town, and a shock home defeat for Kettering Town, bringing all three teams level on sixty points,

two points behind them and separated only by goal difference. Kettering has a game in hand, whilst

 fifth-placed Stratford lost and is now level on points with Stamford, which is making a late surge for

the playoff places.