Some good news for Rangers fans. Seven members of Stafford Rangers under 18s made history on Saturday when they were part of the Staffs Schools team that have won the National Final.
CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND!
They beat Bedfordshire in a game played at Lilleshall and this game was carried over from last season, so we would like to say we are proud of every one of them!
James Sutton, Morgan Payne, Kyle Curtis, Harvey Bannister Smith, Joe Morley, James May. Louis Pelnels
We can announce that Tom Thorley has left the club after taking the option on a 7 day approach from Rushall Olympic. We would like to emphasise this was a difficult decision taken by Tom and he made his decision before the departure of Manager Jody Banim, on Thursday.
We thank Tom for his service in a further spell that took his club appearances to 127.
Northern Premier League
Tuesday 27 October 2020
Stafford Rangers’ problems at the foot of the Northern Premier League deepened with a heavy defeat at home to Atherton Collieries and, to add to the Boro’s woes, they had Joe Cuff sent off midway through the second half.
It was even stevens while the scores were level and Rangers could even count themselves unlucky not to have been given an early advantage when Atherton keeper Danny Taberner got caught in possession on the edge of his area under pressure from Cuff. Appeals for handball outside the area against the visiting keeper fell on deaf ears as the referee waved play on.
Earlier, Callum Coyle had wasted a good chance when well placed on the edge of the area – his shot going high and wide. Atherton had a penalty claim waved away when Gareth Peet went to ground but it was Rangers who looked the most likely to open the scoring as Coyle ended a smart move with a shot that was deflected wide.
Atherton grabbed the opening goal of the evening on 29 minutes. Ben Conway linked with Marcus Cusani to put Elliot Rokka away on the right, stretching the Rangers’ defence and Dylan Glass was on hand to finish off from close range.
For a side who has only managed two league goals all season – one of them being an own goal – the psychological effect of falling a goal behind was clear for all to see. Less than two minutes after their opener, Atherton broke clear through Conway and only a good block from Lewis King prevented the visitors from extending their lead.
Danny Lafferty’s header past King was ruled out due to a foul but Atherton extended their lead a minute into added time via a deflected free kick from Rokka after Liam Langford had inexplicably conceded possession just inside the Stafford half.
The second half commenced with Sam Coulson on as a replacement for Langford, but things did not improve as Atherton created the early chances with Peet’s free kick hitting the side netting and Cusani shooting over after cutting in from the left. Mitch Candlin’s ball over the top of the Atherton defence almost put Cuff in but Taberner came out of his area to win the race and clear the danger. Soon after, Taberner beat Cuff to another 50-50. The Stafford man caught the keeper, but the yellow card shown was harsh.
Less than four minutes after the first yellow, the same two players were involved in yet another 50-50 and Taberner’s theatrical antics saw Cuff dismissed for a second yellow. An already tough task then became an almost impossible one when Atherton extended their lead still further as Rick Smith’s back post header following Vinny Bailey’s deep free kick found its way past King.
The final score could have been worse had there been a visiting player to finish off Peet’s square ball or sub Niall Battersby not been denied by King. For Rangers, their evening was summed up by the fact that it took until two minutes into added time for them to create an effort on target but Candlin’s header was straight at Taberner.
Stafford Rangers: 1 Lewis King, 2 Liam Langford (14 Sam Coulson 29m), 3 Joe Kenton, 4 Ben Forrest, 5 Dan Burns, 6 John Welsh, 7 Reece Jones (16 Cieron Keane 53m), 8 Alex-Ray Harvey, 9 Joe Cuff, 10 Callum Coyle (15 Michael Williams 77m), 11 Mitch Candlin. Unused Subs: 12 Aaron Cole, 17 Matt Hill
Atherton Collieries: 1 Danny Taberner, 2 Clive Smith, 3 Gareth Peet, 4 Danny Lambert, 5 Danny Lafferty, 6 Rick Smith, 7 Ben Conway (16 Jack Lenehan 71m), 8 Vinny Bailey, 9 Dylan Glass (12 Jordan Darr 74m), 10 Elliot Rokka (15 Jack Banister 81m), 11 Marcus Cusani. Unused Subs: 13 Elliot Wynne, 14 Niall Battersby
Ref: Steve Durnall
Cautions: Langford, Welsh (Rangers)
Sent Off: Joe Cuff – two cautions (Rangers)
Goals: Atherton Collieries: Glass 29, Rokka 45+1, R Smith 72
Attendance: 457
Report by Chris Elsley
TUESDAY 27th OCTOBER 2020
KICK OFF 7.45PM
Tickets for this league game are still available online until midnight tonight. Atherton have taken an allocation of 30 tickets agreed by clubs and within the guidelines set by the NPL. We will be selling tickets to Stafford Rangers fans only who haven’t purchased through our ticketing system on the gate, but fans need to recognise that once again we have a maximum permitted gate of 600.
Gates will open at 6.30pm and close at 7.45 sharp. Gate A will open for Season Tickets, C for concessions and all online tickets and others will go through the main gate where tickets will be scanned as usual.
All fans are recommended to wear face coverings within the ground, but they must be worn by everyone in the stand at all times. The social club will be open, but we ask you to be patient as we deal with table service. Whilst we do not anticipate a maximum gate, we must do what we can to keep fans safe. Your patience will be needed whilst we still operate within the restrictions placed on us. The social club will close at 9.30pm and no access will be permitted after this time.
We had several instances from a small minority of fans on Saturday who seemingly would not respond to requests from stewards. There was also a couple of instances of totally unacceptable abuse of stewards and we are looking at these issues closely and will take action to ban offenders.
Please can you log into the venue using the NHS QR codes displayed around the entrance.
We look forward to welcoming everyone back as we return to our league programme.
Get your ticket online here.
FA Cup 4th Round Qualifying
Saturday 24 October 2020
Stafford Rangers missed out on a place in the 1st Round Proper of the FA Cup after being dumped out by the lowest ranked side left in the competition. Rangers were looking for their first appearance against the League teams since going out to Brighton in 2006 but the visitors have to go back 50 years for the last time that they reached that stage and it was clear from early on that the visitors were going to make this a tough afternoon for the Boro, despite the two leagues difference.
Rangers – unchanged from the side beaten at Basford in midweek – had the early openings with Jamie Sleigh and Joe Cuff both missing out in the opening five minutes but Skem were soon on the attack themselves as Dan Mitchley put Emini Adegbenro through only for a crucial tackle from Michael Williams to halt his progress. But, in the 10th minute, the visitors were ahead. While Cieron Keane and Liam Langford both waited for the other to take control, Lloyd Ellams nipped in. Mitchley picked out Adegbenro in space and he advanced to slot the ball past Lewis King. Sam Coulson missed a great opportunity to level soon after when he failed to make sufficient contact from Keane’s corner. It was the first of several chances to fall to the defender in front of the Skem goal.D espite the early setback, Rangers had most of the first half play but saw shots from Keane and John Welsh fly off target.
Welsh then put Sleigh in, but he lost his footing at the vital stage before Ben Barnes had to tip over a deep centre from Langford that was heading for the top corner. An unmarked Coulson headed over then Welsh hit the side netting before Barnes ensured his side would take the lead into the interval by tipping Coulson’s looping header over the bar. The visitors were the better team at the start of the second half and it needed a great challenge from Langford to halt another threatening run from Adegbenro.
The two sides traded opportunities. Barnes took no chance as he pushed a Williams shot away for a corner even though the shot looked to be heading wide. At the other end Michael Grogan was unconvincing from 18 yards out and his shot ended wide of the target. Defender Grogan was more up to his task with a double block to deny Langford and Cuff before King saved well from Ellams.
But it was Ellams who doubled Skem’s lead on 65 mins with a header beyond the reach of King following an Alex Griffiths free kick. Cuff forced another fingertip save from Barnes before another chance went begging for Rangers as neither Langford nor Coulson could manage to get a shot in. Barnes saved well from a Cuff header before Rangers’ leading scorer gave his side a lifeline with 12 minutes remaining when he hooked home Keane’s cross.
Barnes kept out a similar effort from Cuff before Skem wrapped up the tie with two late goals. The first came from the penalty spot on 88 mins after Richard Brodie made the most of the opportunity as King tried to force him wide and Adegbenro netted. With the tie in the bag, Ellams rubbed salt in Rangers’ wounds two minutes later when he was given time and space to advance to the edge of the area before thumping the ball past King.
Stafford Rangers: 1 Lewis King, 2 Michael Williams, 3 Cieron Keane, 4 Sam Coulson, 5 Liam Langford, 6 John Welsh, 7 Muhammed Sebbeh-Njie (12 Callum Coyle 46m), 8 Alex-Ray Harvey (15 Mitch Candlin 62m), 9 Jamie Sleigh, 10 Joe Cuff, 11 Joe Kenton. Unused Subs: 14 Dan Burns, 16 Reece Jones, 17 Aaron Cole, 18 Joe Morley, 19 Ben Forrest
Skelmersdale United: 1 Ben Barnes, 2 Joe Herbert, 3 Callum Preston, 4 Daniel Murphy, 5 Michael Grogan, 6 Gabriel Ellis (17 Alex Davies 56m), 7 Jack Grimshaw (14 Richard Brodie 86m), 8 Lloyd Ellams, 9 Daniel Mitchley, 10 Alex Griffiths (16 Stephen Wainwright 90+2m), 11 Emini Adegbenro. Unused Subs 12 Jay Webb, 13 Cameron Glennon, 15 Thomas Grimshaw, 18 Alex O’Neill
Ref: Matt Cortlett
Cautions: King, Keane, Langford (Rangers), Adegbenro (Skelmersdale)
Goals: Rangers Cuff 78; Adegbenro 10 & 88 pen, Ellams 65 & 90
Attendance: 600
Report by Chris Elsley
