Southport bow out of the FA Trophy, at the agonising quarter final stage, after a hungrier Telford team snatched victory ten minutes from time.

The match started quite edgy, with both teams tentatively trying to find the gaps in the very tight defences. Indeed, Ashley Winn could only try a speculative shot from 20 yards before he had to go off injured, and moments after his replacement was made, Steve Daly took a run down the right channel, striking his low shot comfortably to Ryan Young.

The game exploded five minutes before the break as the ball was pushed out to the left wing for Southport as Lee Vaughan appeared to hold down Kevin Leadbetter, with the Telford defender receiving his marching orders, and Leadbetter seeing Yellow for his part in the brawl.

The second half continued with both teams cancelling each other out, and although the game was an end-to-end affair, neither team seemed to have the cutting edge in front of goal. Just after the hour, Michael Powell saw his header cleared off the from Leadbetter’s corner, but the ball was cleared off the line by James Meredith. Down at the other end, Liam Blakeman saw his 25 yard free kick sail over the cross bar.

Telford took the lead as a free-kick was played into the near post, where Carl Rodgers bundled the ball over the line from close range.

Southport were unable to respond, with the focus of the players now having to concentrate on clinching the Blue Square North title.