LWC Partnership

LWC Partnership

Stafford Rangers are delighted to announce the continuation of their partnership with LWC drinks wholesaler. Pictured, is Julie Presdee, representative of LWC shaking hands with Chairman John Bromley, also pictured are Carol Bailey and Harry Shaw.

Stafford Rangers 1- 1 Market Drayton Town

Stafford Rangers 1- 1 Market Drayton Town

(Rangers win 5-3 on penalties)
Integro League Cup – 1st Round
Tuesday 18 September 2018

Stafford Rangers needed penalties to see off Market Drayton Town and progress through to the 2nd round of the Integro League Cup.
As expected, Rangers made several changes from the XI that started at Buxton on Saturday with, notably, a first appearance of the season for Jon Adams.

 

The first 45 minutes was a scrappy affair with only sporadic moments of quality. Rangers were first to mount anything like a serious threat when Louis Briscoe got to the by line but his square ball was cut out by Paul McMullen. The visitors launched an immediate breakaway which earned them a corner and Glyn Coney’s flag kick found McMullen at the back post but the Drayton defender was unable to get any direction on his header.

Ossie Abadaki saw a shot hit the side netting then, a minute later, Sam Coulson steered his header just wide as he attacked a right wing corner. Soon after, Coulson was in action in a more familiar defensive role to block from McMullen. A looping header from Jack Sherratt was taken by Ashley Rawlins under his crossbar but the Drayton keeper was unable to hold a more threatening effort from Sherratt shortly after and it needed a header back from McMullen to quell the danger.

Rangers kept creating the better chances and Rawlins turned an Abadaki shot round the post then the player, recalled to the starting line up for the first time in 8 games, skewed one high and wide.

Referee did his best to keep the game flowing and it wasn’t until the 26th minute that the first free kick for foul play was awarded.
The two sides traded chances with neither keeper tested but the breakthrough eventually came on 37 mins when Josh Green – captain for the night against his former club – got on the end of a dangerous ball into the six yard box to put Rangers ahead. Credit goes to Sherratt for his work in the build up.

Rangers should have extended their lead a couple of minutes later but Sherratt and Green got in each other’s’ way after Rawlins had spilled a free kick from Louis Briscoe and a follow up shot was blocked. Harry Benns came close to adding a second shortly after the interval when he ran on to a long ball from Green but, having gone round Rawlins, he found the angle tight. His shot was accurate but lacked power and Myles Arnold cleared off the line.

Rangers squandered another chance when Harrison Holgate put one over from close range after a bit of a scramble before Drayton stepped up their game for the last 20 mins. Desean Martin dragged one wide then sub Andy Hartlebury headed wide at the back post.
Rangers had a let off when James Askey’s attempted clearance was sliced against the bar then Daniel Beddoes clipped his shot just over. The warning signs were there and Drayton eventually got their reward when Jay Russell chested down Louis Irvine’s pass before volleying home from the edge of the ‘D’.

Lucas Burnett should have snatched a late winner for Rangers but headed wide when unmarked and so it was down to penalties to separate the two sides.  After Green had put Rangers ahead with his spot kick, Russell failed to match him when his shot went wide via the right hand post. Sam Coulson, Harrison Holgate, Joe Cuff and Jack Sherratt proceeded to convert their kicks to send Rangers through 5-3.

Stafford Rangers:1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Lewis Banks, 3 James Askey, 4 Harrison Holgate, 5 Jon Adams, 6 Sam Coulson, 7 Louis Briscoe (16 Theo Bailey-Jones 68m), 8 Josh Green, 9 Osebi Abadaki (17 Lucas Burnett 81m), 10 Harry Benns (12 Joe Cuff 72m), 11 Jack Sherratt. Unused Subs:14 Luke Jones, 15 Tom Thorley

Market Drayton Town: 1 Ashley Rawlins, 2 Louis Irvine, 3 Myles Arnold, 4 Tyrell McFarlane, 5 Paul McMullen (15 Andy Hartlebury 53m), 6 Desean Martin, 7 Lyndon Campbell (12 Jay Russell 61m), 8 Daniel Beddoes, 9 Matthew Ballard, 10 Glyn Coney, 11 Kevin Buxton. Unused Subs: 13 Owen Skelton (gk),14 Usill Wells, 16 Martyn Davies
Cautions: Askey (Rangers) Arnold (Market Drayton)

Ref: Bob Hathaway
Att : 180

Report: Chris Elsley

Many thanks to Hednesford Town

Sports Therapist Sam Cutler was unavailable for the game with Market Drayton last night and with no reserve standing by we had a problem. We would like to say a very big thank you to Terry at Hednesford Town for organising the “loan” for one game of the Hednesford sports Therapist Eve. She came to help at short notice and carried out the duties in a friendly and professional manner. Many thanks.

King’s Lynn Match Preview

It is the lure of the FA Cup this Saturday, yet again with our luck acting against us we are on our travels. There must be an East coast link for us in this season’s competition as we move down the coast from Grimsby to King’s Lynn. When the draw was made King’s Lynn still had unfinished business with a replay needed to dispose of Histon. A late equaliser kept them in the cup, but they also lost their manager. As happens in such cases the caretaker witnessed a 7-0 win. So, things may be a bit topsey turvey this Saturday, so could that be a good or bad thing.

 

Although a distance fixture of 144 miles this could so easily have been a league fixture following the reorganisation of step 3 football, as both sides could have pitched together in the Southern League Central. Thankfully it is not a league fixture as our 3 visits to the Walks have resulted in 2 defeats, 2-3 23/09/00 and 0-2 29/12/0. However, our 2 FA Cup visits to Kings Lynn have both been positive with 3-1 wins in 02/11/74 (Roger Jones hat trick) and 01/11/90. Other games between us at the walks were 18/11/86 for a league cup visit and an FA Trophy defeat 2-3 in 22/11/08. If you think I have forgotten our third league visit then not so, because a week after our FA Trophy defeat we were back at King’s Lynn the following week for a 2-2 league draw. People are moaning about the distance for Saturday, but I can name quite a few fans who travelled to both games that season.

King’s Lynn have had quite a turbulent history in recent times since we last played them in the Conference North, as at the end of that season they were demoted to Northern Premier League because stadium did not meet Conference North standards. In 2009 the club were wound up by High Courts regarding debts owed to HMRC. 2010 saw a “new” club relaunched in UCL Premier Division under new name ‘King’s Lynn Town FC’. In 2012 Linnets they gained promotion to the Evo-Stik Division One South and the following year won promotion to the Northern Premier League. Premier Division. Due to their geographical position, just like ourselves they now find themselves playing in the Southern League Central, moving from the Southern League last summer.

Their current league form is completely different to last season’s title chasing, as they find themselves one place above the relegation zone with 1 win, 2 draws and 4 defeats. Their three home games haves seen a 2-4 defeat to Biggleswade, a 0-1 defeat to Stourbridge and a 0-0 draw with St Neots. They have faired slightly better away with a 1-2 defeat at leaders Kettering, a 0-1 defeat to Lowestoft and a 1-0 win at our Staffordshire rivals Tamworth. On Saturday they returned from Halesowen with a 2-2 draw.

You could argue that as a cup tie then league form gores out of the window, but the fixture appears to throw up two evenly matched teams with the home advantage being the decider or does our FA Cup jinx over them sway the balance. It all makes for an interesting tie with another £9k pay day for the winners. Let’s hope a fair number travel on Saturday to support the team. If the game is drawn then its all back to Marston Road next Tuesday, and the League game with Basford but back to be rearranged.