Bedford Town 3 Stafford Rangers 1

Oct 31, 2021 | Match Report

FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Saturday 30 October 2021

A below par performance saw Stafford Rangers knocked out of the FA Trophy by in form Bedford Town. With the home side flying high in the Southern League Division One Central, Rangers knew they would face a tough challenge, but it was a day that they didn’t execute the basics.

Bedford raced into a two-goal lead inside 11 minutes. Rory McAuley opened the scoring on 8 minutes when he ran in unchallenged to head home Danny Setchell’s corner.

Three minutes later, Callum Donnelly added a second when he was given time and space to convert Connor Tomlinson’s cross. There was some question whether Tomlinson was offside in the build-up but no doubt about the quality of Donnelly’s finish.

Shell shocked Rangers didn’t come into the game until the latter stages of the half, but they failed to create a threat to the home goal.

Rangers began the second half on the front foot, but it was Bedford who created the first chance as Rene Howe found the lively Tomlinson who forced Luke Pilling into a fine save. The ball ran loose to Lewis Miccio but Pilling made another good save to keep Rangers in the contest.

But those hopes were well and truly dashed a couple of minutes before the hour mark when Tomlinson latched on to a long ball from Setchell then cut in from the right before firing emphatically past Pilling.

Rangers gave themselves a lifeline when they pulled one back 10 minutes later after Bedford keeper Alex Street flapped at Alex Fletcher’s free kick and Joe Kenton headed home.

Bedford central defender Charley Sanders was lucky to stay on the field after two separate head-butting incidents, on James O’Neill and Tol Omotola, but it was reflective of the officials’ performance that both went unspotted.
Kenton and Tom Tonks both missed chances to reduce the arrears late on and a bad day for Rangers was compounded in added time when debutant Tre Pemberton was sent off after picking up his second yellow card of the game.

Bedford Town: 1 Alex Street, 2 Drew Richardson, 3 Joe Steele (15 Shaun Keane 87m), 4 Rory McAuley, 5 Charley Sanders, 6 Hugh Alban-Jones, 7 Connor Tomlinson, 8 Callum Donnelly (17 Will Summerfield 62m), 9 Rene Howe (12 Craig Mackail-Smith 71m), 10 Danny Setchell, 11 Lewis Miccio. Unused Subs: 13 Elliott Duffy, 14 Olly Swain, 16 Zak Brown,
Stafford Rangers: 13 Luke Pilling, 2 Andrew Burns, 3 Ben Woods, 4 Alex-Ray Harvey (12 Omotolani Omotola 57m), 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 James O’Neill, 7 Joe Kenton, 8 Tom Tonks, 9 Jake Charles (16 Max McCarthy 57m), 10 Alex Fletcher, 11 Theo Bailey-Jones (14 Tre Pemberton 59m). Unused Subs: 15 Jon Moran, 17 Michael Lennon

Cautions: Street, Donnelly, Setchell (Bedford), Tonks, O’Neill (Rangers)
Sent Off: Pemberton – two cautions (Rangers
Referee: Steven Scott
Att: 454

Report: Chris Elsley

Whitby Town 1 Stafford Rangers 3

Oct 25, 2021 | Match Report

The Pitching In Northern Premier League

Saturday 23 October 2021

Stafford Rangers ended their mini goal drought by hitting three past Whitby Town on the East Yorkshire coast to record their first win in four games. It was a fine all-round display from the Boro who made just one change to their starting line up as Alex-Ray Harvey replaced Luca Navarro. The club captain repaid the decision with an excellent display.

Whitby began on the front foot with Marcus Giles creating a couple of openings but a looping header from Jonathan Burn which drifted wide of the post was the nearest that they came. Rangers had a strong penalty appeal turned down when Ethan Stewart was hauled to the ground, but it wasn’t long before the Boro got themselves in front.

It was a long throw from Tom Tonks in the 15th minute that created the goal with James O’Neill placing his header past Shane Bland. It was the first goal scored by the club in two minutes short of five hours of play. But the lead lasted just three minutes as Whitby levelled through Jacob Hazel who broke free after combining with Giles.

Both sides missed chances as Theo Bailey-Jones fired over for Stafford and Josh MacDonald saw his shot saved by a diving Luke Pilling. Lady luck has not followed Jake Charles this season and he was unlucky not to score when he saw his shot roll across the goal line.

But his fortunes took a turn for the better on 25 minutes when the referee awarded Rangers a penalty after Jonathan Burn had clattered into the Rangers’ striker. Charles stepped up to restore the Boro lead.

Bailey-Jones went close to adding a third but was unable to connect as he launched himself at Joe Kenton’s cross and Tonks almost worked an opening after dispossessing Burn but was eventually blocked by Jassem Sukar.

At the other end, MacDonald sent a first time shot wide while Pilling had to smother the ball to deny Hazel. Rangers were firmly in command after the break although it took them until the final 10 minutes to secure the points.

Bailey-Jones and Kenton both had shots blocked early in the second half before Alex Fletcher fired wide from 25 yards. Whitby did create half a chance as Hazel broke into the area. He went down under the challenge from O’Neill, but the referee deemed it a dive and cautioned the Whitby forward.

Bailey-Jones missed a couple of close-range chances for Rangers before Tonks secured the win with a trademark free kick on 81 minutes after Charles had been brought down just outside the area.

Whitby Town: 1 Shane Bland, 2 Nathan Dyer, 3 Jassem Sukar, 4 Jake Hackett (12 Adam Gell 69m), 5 Daniel Rowe, 6 Jonathan Burn, 7 Josh MacDonald, 8 Priestley Griffiths, 9 Jacob Hazel, 10 Marcus Giles (18 Bradley Fewster), 11 Liam Cooke (14 Harry Green 64m). Unused Subs: 15 Jameel Ible, 16 Coleby Shepherd

Stafford Rangers: 13 Luke Pilling, 2 Andrew Burns, 3 Ben Woods, 4 Alex-Ray Harvey, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 James O’Neill, 7 Joe Kenton, 8 Tom Tonks, 9 Jake Charles (14 Max McCarthy 90+1m), 10 Alex Fletcher, 11 Theo Bailey-Jones. Unused Subs: 12 Luca Navarro, 15 Omotolani Omotola, 16 Jon Moran, 17 Charlie Ten-Grotenhuis

Cautions: Hazel (Whitby), Bailey-Jones (Rangers)

Referee: Glen Hart

Att: 531

Report: Chris Elsley