Evo-Stik Northern Premier League | Tuesday 2 October 2018

A last minute penalty sent Stafford Rangers to defeat away to Marine but it could and should have been a different story after Rangers had missed a penalty of their own 10 minutes earlier. After Saturday’s mauling at Bamber Bridge overall this was a much improved performance from Rangers but there were still too many frailties on show and Marine could have put the game to bed inside 15 mins.

After a fairly uneventful opening the game suddenly sprung to life with a flurry of chances – all falling to the home side.
Craig Carney created the first with a strong run at the Stafford defence. He laid off to Danny Mitchley who in turn picked out Finlay Sinclair-Smith on the far side of the area, but his shot flew over Adam Whitehouse’s crossbar.

A minute later and a good ball from Steve Irwin almost put Josh Hine in. He got in ahead of Whitehouse but not enough to steer the ball past the Stafford keeper.

In the next minute Hine ran onto a long ball and clipped it over Whitehouse but saw the ball bounce inches wide. Hine then fired into the side netting and Carney fired over from the edge of the area.

Rangers were clearly rattled but somehow, they held out and could have taken the lead on 19 mins when Tom Marshall got his head to Jon Adams’ free kick, but Marine keeper Martin Fearon saved well diving to his left. Marine continued to look threatening but after creating so much in a short space of time their chances dried up somewhat while Rangers came more into the contest without giving Fearon much concern and the game remained goal-less at the break.

Rangers opened brightly in the second half as Luke Jones’ glancing header forced Fearon to a necessary but comfortable save.
The Marine keeper didn’t deal with Kyle Perry’s header quite so well and was grateful to his defenders to clear the immediate danger.
Rangers should have gone ahead on 54 mins when Lewis banks’ free kick fell to Jack Sherratt, but he fired wide when well placed.

At the other end Mitchley spurned a hat trick of chances in a short space of time as the game opened up. Then Rangers were gifted a golden opportunity on 80 mins when Liam Hynes fouled Perry. The Stafford number 9 stepped up to take the penalty but Fearon guessed right to make the save.

Having been let off the hook Marine went close again when Mitchley’s header struck the outside of the post, but it was the Marine captain who won the match winning penalty when he was needlessly bundled over by Sam Coulson and Carney smashed the spot kick into the roof of the net.

Marine: 1 Martin Fearon, 2 Kenny Strickland, 3 James Short, 4 Danny Shaw, 5 Chris Doyle, 6 Liam Hynes (14 James Murray 82m), 7 Finlay Sinclair-Smith (15 Liam Davies 90+2m), 8 Steve Irwin (16 James Joyce 88m), 9 Danny Mitchley, 10 Josh Hine, 11 Craig Carney. Unused subs: 12 Tony Donaldson, 17 Germano Mendes

Stafford: 1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Lewis Banks, 3 Harrison Holgate, 4 Luke Jones, 5 Sam Coulson, 6 Tom Marshall, 7 Jon Adams, 8 Tom Thorley, 9 Kyle Perry (14 Izak Reid 88m), 10 Theo Bailey-Jones (12 Louis Briscoe 63m), 11 Jack Sherratt (16 Josh Green 69m). Unused Subs: 15 James Askey, 17 Lucas Burnett

Cautions: Carney (Marine) , Marshall (Rangers)
Referee: Jon Kenny
Att: 289

Report: Chris Elsley

Stafford Rangers are up to a season’s high 8th place in the table after a strong performance against Basford United at Marston Road.
It was just what the team needed after Saturday’s disappointing FA Cup exit, but they had to do it the hard way after gifting the visitors a soft opener.

Basford went on the attack from the off and Louis Banks had to block a shot from Cieron Keane inside the opening 30 seconds.
A couple of minutes later and Rangers launched their first offensive of the game, Kyle Perry’s flick putting Theo Bailey-Jones in but Gregory Tempest got a foot in and Kieran Preston was able to collect.
Former Rangers keeper, Preston made a comfortable save down to his right after Perry had decided to try his luck from 30 yards out, then Louis Briscoe went high and wide following a period of Stafford pressure.
At the other end, Liam Hearn shot straight at Adam Whitehouse after exchanging passes with Liam Bateman but the experienced striker made no mistake on 17 mins when gifted the opportunity by an under hit back pass from Jack Sherratt and he advanced to put Basford in front.

Harry Benns went close to an instant reply as Preston had to go down to his left to save but the equaliser wasn’t long in coming.
A good ball from Harry Benns sent Bailey-Jones away but his first touch gave Jack Thomas the chance to nip and concede the corner.
Perry got his head to Briscoe’s flag kick ahead of Preston and Luke Jones was on hand to hook the ball home from close range (23 mins).

Two minutes later, Basford failed to deal with another Briscoe corner and after Perry and Benns had efforts blocked Sam Coulson rifled in to put Stafford ahead.

Rangers were now looking the stronger but Perry fired over then Tom Thorley’s well struck drive deflected wide off a visiting defender.
Basford weren’t without their own chances as Coulson denied Hearn but it was Rangers who had the final say of the opening 45 mins when Perry headed home yet another Briscoe corner to make it 3-1.
Perry was in the action again immediately after the interval, heading wide from a Briscoe free kick, then Preston made an excellent save to deny Perry from Sherratt’s square ball.

Basford defender Liam Bateman didn’t miss by much with a speculative 25 yarder but Rangers were asking the tougher questions. Some great play by Benns on the edge of the Basford area saw him get in a good shot that Preston couldn’t hold but there were no Rangers players around to take advantage. Soon after, Thorley headed straight at the Basford keeper.
Gradually, the visitors got themselves more into the game and Whitehouse saved well from Watson at his near post after Coulson had failed to cut out a cross from James Reid while Thorley got in a vital header to clear a Bateman centre before Coulson made a good block to halt Thomas.
Basford were enjoying their best spell of the game and Reid went wide after a bit of a scramble in the Rangers area.
Rangers held firm and pressed again but Perry fired wide. Soon after, Briscoe was denied by a timely tackle after good approach play from Harrison Holgate but Rangers had done enough to secure the points against one of the league’s high fliers.

Stafford Rangers:1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Lewis Banks, 3 Harrison Holgate, 4 Luke Jones, 5 Sam Coulson, 6 Jack Sherratt, 7 Theo Bailey-Jones, 8 Tom Thorley, 9 Kyle Perry, 10 Harry Benns (14 Josh Green 85m) , 11 Louis Briscoe (12 Izak Reid 82m). Unused Subs: 15 James Askey, 16 Tom Marshall, 17 Joe Cuff

Basford United: 1 Kieran Preston, 2 Liam Bateman, 3 Deon Meikle, 4 Matthew Thornhill, 5 Dominic Roma (14 James Reid 63m), 6 Gregory Tempest (16 Kole Lambert 46m), 7 Jack Thomas, 8 Kieren Fenton, 9 Nathan Watson, 10 Liam Hearn (12 Courey Grantham 74m), 11 Cieron Keane. Unused Subs: 15 Louis Carr, 17 Mohammed Zain Hakeem.
Cautions: None

Ref: Ollie Williams

Att : 411

Report: Chris Elsley