Sep 30, 2017 | Club News
Emirates FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Saturday 30 September 2017
Old rivals Stafford Rangers and Telford United could not be separated in this tight local derby.
Stafford got off to a perfect start when Richard Batchelor headed in Jack Sherratt’s free kick on 9 mins. Neither side threatened too much in the following 20 mins but then Telford’s Marcus Dinanga got on the end of Jordan Gough’s cross only to put his volley across the face of goal.
Gough had a couple of chances himself but was kept out, first by Mat Bailey then Adam Whitehouse. In between, Keiren Westwood’s excellent challenge halted Dinanga’s advance as Stafford took their lead into the interval. Telford had the better of the exchanges at the start of the second half though it was Stafford who were first to threaten when Richard Gregory’s shot deflected into the side netting.
Gough then missed out at the other end before a slip from Kieren Westwood let in Anthony Dwyer but the former Stafford player went wide going for glory with better options at his disposal. On 70 mins, an off the ball clash with Gregory resulted in Telford defender Aaron Hayden being dismissed after referee Thomas Parsons had consulted his assistant. Gregory was cautioned for his part.
But the Shropshire side fought back to level when John Marsden fired home on 84 mins following Dinanga’s cut back from the by-line. Stafford had two great chances to win it in added time through Louis Briscoe and Sherratt but both fired over.
Stafford: 1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Sam Griffiths, 3 Kieren Westwood, 4 Jordaan Brown, 5 Mat Bailey, 6 Levi Reid, 7 Osebi Abadaki (14 Izak Reid 64m), 8 Jack Sherratt, 9 Dan Westwood (12 Kai Davis 77m), 10 Richard Gregory (15 Louis Briscoe 86m), 11 Richard Batchelor. Unused subs: 13 Brad Caswell, 16 Joe Thomas, 17 Kieran Morris
Telford: 1 Jasbir Singh, 2 Ross White, 3 Jordan Gough, 4 Aaron Hayden, 5 Shane Sutton, 6 Jon Royle, 7 Jordan Lussey (15 Elliot Newby 46m), 8 Henry Cowans, 9 Marcus Dinanga, 10 John Marsden, 11 Anthony Dwyer (16 Matthew Barnes-Homer 86m). Unused subs: 12 Louis McGrory, 13 Sheridan Martinez, 14 Jordan Murphy, 17 Will Marsh, 18 Reece Taylor.
Cautions: Griffiths, Gregory (Rangers)
Sent off: Hayden (Telford)
Referee: Thomas Parsons
Att: 1,137
Chris Elsley
Sep 28, 2017 | Club News
Bradley Fortnam-Tomlinson has left the club to join Evo-Stik South club Stamford FC. We thank Bradley for his time spent at Stafford Rangers and wish him every success with his new club.
Sep 26, 2017 | Club News
Evo-Stik Northern Premier League
Tuesday 26 September 2017
Stafford Rangers responded to Neil Kitching’s demands with a comfortable three goal victory over Nantwich Town.
Kitching made four changes to the side that started against Shaw Lane three days earlier with debutant Kieren Westwood among the players coming in.
Rangers got off to the perfect start when skipper Mat Bailey put his side in front in just the 2nd minute, heading home from Jack Sherratt’s corner.
Richard Gregory went close to a second a couple of minutes later when he headed inches wide at the back post.
Dan Westwood had three chances in quick succession but missed out each time. First, he was kept out by Fabian Spiess after being sent away by Richard Batchelor.
The Nantwich keeper deflected another Westwood chance just wide after a super through ball from Josh Craddock then he hooked the ball in to the arms of Spiess from the resulting corner.
Craddock also headed wide in that spell and the inevitable second goal soon followed.
It was an excellent ball out of defence from Jordaan Brown that launched the attack and as the defender stood off, Osebi Abadaki took his chance to drill the ball past Spiess on 20 mins.
Nantwich were gifted a way back into the game on the half hour when Brown was harshly penalised when Harry Clayton went to ground in the area but Sean Cooke sent his spot kick against the underside of the bar and Rangers cleared.
But the Dabbers had their spirits lifted and for a time Rangers looked a little rattled but Jordan Davies’ shot into the side betting was as close as they came to a goal and Rangers were able to weather the brief storm.
The visitors were first to show after the break with Cooke going wide from a free kick. Sub Troy Bourne hit a low shot which flicked up off Adam Whitehouse’s right foot and Bailey was required to clear.
But Rangers who struck with their first real attack of the second half just past the hour.
Batchelor chased and caught ball own the line from Brown and his cross was brought down by Gregory and with a quick turn he fired past Spiess to make it 3-0 on 62 mins.
A poor clearance presented Westwood with another chance to get his name on the score sheet but Spiess saved.. Sherratt and Westwood both had follow up shots blocked by Casper Hughes.
Moments later, the Nantwich defender headed off the line from Bailey.
Bailey, a former Nantwich player, then kept his old team at bay with a goal line stoppage to deny Clayton as Rangers recorded their first league win in seven.
Rangers: 1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Sam Griffiths, 3 Kieren Westwood, 4 Jordaan Brown, 5 Mat Bailey, 6 Josh Craddock, 7 Osebi Abadaki (12 Kai Davis 84m), 8 Jack Sherratt, 9 Dan Westwood, 10 Richard Gregory (15 Izak Reid 78m), 11 Richard Batchelor. Unused subs 14 Levi Reid, 16 Louis Briscoe, 17 Joe Thomas
Nantwich: 1 Fabian Spiess, 2 Casper Hughes, 3 Jamie Morgan, 4 Joel Stair, 5 Clayton McDonald (15 Troy Bourne 50m), 6 Sam Hall, 7 Jordan Davies, 8 Matthew Bell (12 Toby Mullarkey 45+3m), 9 Harry Clayton, 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Nathan Cotterell (16 David Forbes 60m) Unused subs 13 Krystian Burzynski, 14 Sam Phillips
Cautions: Craddock, Batchelor (Rangers), Stair, McDonald (Nantwich)
Referee: Simon Brown
Att: 412
Chris Elsley
Sep 23, 2017 | Club News
Evo-Stik League Premier Division
Saturday 23 September 2017
Rangers slipped into the bottom four after being hit for five by high flying Shaw Lane.
The game was as good as over by half time as a poor first half display from Stafford allowed the Barnsley based side to coast to a 4-0 lead.
Paul Clayton had already missed a simple chance on the goal line when Damien Reeves put Shaw Lane in front on 14 mins, heading in Alex Byrne’s cross via the underside of the bar.
Clayton made it 2-0 on 21 mins, heading home the rebound after Adam Whitehouse had saved well from the initial shot.
Whitehouse made another good save, this time from Nicky Walker then flicked one over from Reeves, but, just before the interval, Shaw Lane struck twice inside four minutes to put the game beyond Stafford.
Rangers conceded an unnecessary corner which was then defended poorly as Cameron Hough made it 3-0 on 42m and Clayton slid in to make it 4-0 a minute in to added time.
But Stafford weren’t without chances of their own. Mat Bailey headed straight at Jon Stewart with the game still goal-less while Jack Langston drove wide from 30 yards before Exodus Geohaghon had a close range header blocked from a Jack Sherratt cross.
A triple substitution early in the second half triggered a positive response from Stafford and two goals from Dan Westwood on 56 mins and a penalty on 64 mins gave them some hope. Westwood’s first saw him turn in a shot from Richard Gregory then he netted from the spot after Izak Reid had been tripped.
Richard Batchelor had a shot blocked as Rangers went close to a third but Alex Byrne restored the three goal margin on 72 mins following a break from Sam Osborne.
Westwood had the ball in the back of the Shaw Lane net once more but the referee spotted an infringement in the build up then Josh Craddock almost marked his return with a goal before Shaw Lane scrambled the ball away.
Shaw Lane: 1 Jon Stewart 2 Neil Austin, 3 Ryan Serrant, 4 David Norris, 5 Kelvin Lugsden, 6 Cameron Hough, 7 Alex Byrne (15 Niah Payne 84m), 8 Spencer Harris, 9 Paul Clayton, 10 Damien Reeves (12 Chib Chilaka 76m), 11 Nicky Walker (14 Sam Osborne 66m) Unused subs: 16 Godwin Abadaki, 17 Morgan Bacon
Rangers: 1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Sam Griffiths, 3 Jordaan Brown, 4 Exodus Geohaghon, 5 Mat Bailey, 6 Jack Langston (17 Richard Batchelor 51m), 7 Osebi Abadaki (16 Josh Craddock 51m), 8 Jack Sherratt, 9 Dan Westwood, 10 Louis Briscoe (12 Richard Gregory 51m) 11 Izak Reid. Unused subs 14 Kai Davis, 15 Levi Reid
Cautions: Brown, Sherratt (Rangers)
Referee: Martin Chester
Att: 261
Sep 22, 2017 | Club News
Josh Craddock has returned to the Rangers after his brief spell gained match fitness with Chasetown FC. Josh is available for the trip to Shaw Lane tomorrow but not for the Emirates FA Cup match against AFC Telford next Saturday, having played for Chasetown in a previous round.
