Basford Preview – Phil Bennett

Nov 7, 2018 | Club News

This Saturday we make our way towards Wembley via Basford. We may joke about a Wembley run, but if you think of all the incentives for promotion to the football league, then some step 1 clubs may take the FA Trophy lightly, which means with luck of the draw, who knows, a step 3 side could make it to Wembley.

Standing in our way is Basford and we make only our second visit to Greenwich Avenue, almost to the day of our last visit, when on 7/11/15 we came away with a creditable 1-1 draw, and of course, that season we went on to win the NPL Division 1 South title, a feat Basford did last season.

Luck could have been better for us, but if you want a money-spinning cup run then you must beat what is in front of you. Form guide makes interesting viewing as we embark on our 5th cup game in a 6-match run of games. We are currently on a 4-match unbeaten run and a win on Saturday will equal our best run this season. Basford are however, on a 5-match consecutive win run. They lie third in the league with a home record of won 8 and lost 1. We can take some comfort that their only home defeat came on Bank Holiday Monday to Hednesford and they were knocked out of the FA Cup at home by lower league Staveley.

Their home gates hover around the mid 250’s, so a good away following on the day could act as the twelve man and help us progress into the next round of the trophy. The next round sees the National League North and South clubs entering the draw.

 

Game played this century on 10th November

2001       Crawley                                H           0-0          Southern League Premier Division

2012       Bradford Park Avenue      H           3-1          F A Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round

2015       Rushall Olympic                 H          1-0          Integro League Cup Round 1

 Basford United website HERE

Stafford Rangers 4-2 Rocester FC

Stafford Rangers 4-2 Rocester FC

Nov 6, 2018 | Match Report

Staffs Senior Cup 2nd Round
Tuesday 6 November 2018

Stafford Rangers survived a late scare from Rocester to start their defence of the Staffordshire Senior Cup that they won by beating Hednesford Town at the end of last season. Although Steve Burr made a number of changes to the side that drew with Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday, he had learned from the lesson at Lye Town a couple of weeks ago and ensured there was still a healthy amount of experience in the starting XI.

 

Rangers looked the stronger side from the off but had little to show for it. Andy Haworth tried his luck from the edge of the D inside 5 mins, but fans had to wait until beyond the half hour mark before they saw another decent effort from the home side – this time Josh Green hit the cross bar from a similar distance.

All too often, Rangers tried to walk it in when in good position around the Rocester penalty area and the visiting defence were quick to close down and extinguish the danger. Rocester’s main threat came from midfielder Micah Jebbson. On a number of occasions, he attacked down the left wing taking on and beating defenders James Askey and Sam Coulson.

On 22 mins, he forced Adam Whitehouse to save with his feet then, a minute later, he kept the ball well but couldn’t find the power to beat the Rangers’ keeper. On 34 mins he cut in again from the left but shot across the face of goal.

The threat lessened when he switched to the right for the final few minutes of the half and it was Rangers who were on top at half time thanks to a low 25-yard strike from Jack Sherratt on 43 mins that squeezed between Lewis Bullock’s left hand and post.
Rangers almost went 2-0 up early in the second half when Derry Creighton sliced a clearance against his own bar, but the second Stafford goal wasn’t far away, and it came from a good strike from sub Joe Cuff on 53 mins after Josh Green had rolled him a short free kick.

Captain for the night, Green got on the scoresheet himself three minutes later after a howler in the Rocester area when Luca Sorrentino’s back pass was missed by keeper Bullock leaving Green with the simple task.  New signing Liam Collings crashed a shot into the stomach of a Rocester defender as Stafford threatened to add further goals, but the visitors came close to pulling one back when James Askey was forced to clear off the line from Jordan Dodd.

Rocester’s efforts on the night deserved a goal and they got one on 81 mins when Sorrentino stroked the ball home from the edge of the area. It was game on a minute later when Carl Allen headed home from Jordan Godfrey’s free kick, but Jake Charles made sure of Rangers’ progress through to the quarter finals in the third minute of added time when he ended a solo run by hammering the ball home with the last kick of the match.

Stafford: 1 Adam Whitehouse (17 Morgan Bacon 64m), 2 James Askey, 3 Ben Chilcott, 4 Dan Burns, 5 Sam Coulson, 6 Josh Green, 7 Andrew Haworth (16 Joe Cuff 46m), 8 Jack Sherratt, 9 Andrai Jones (14 Jake Charles 64m), 10 Harry Benns, 11 Liam Collings. Unused Subs 12 Theo Bailey-Jones, 15 Lewis Banks.
Rocester:1 Lewis Bullock, 2 Matt Nutt, 3 Derry Creighton, 4 Joshua Sedgley (14 Sam Golden 66m), 5 Luke Tandy, 6 Carl Allen, 7 Luca Sorrentino, 8 Zak Hill (12 Jordan Godfrey 53m), 9 Jordan Dodd, 10 Jack Jeffery, 11 Micah Jebbison. Unused Subs 15 Luke Partridge – only three subs named.

Cautions: None
Ref: Steve Martin
Att: 178

Report: Chris Elsley

Rocester Preview – Phil Bennett

Nov 5, 2018 | Club News

We appear to be overdosing on cup football at the moment, with our 4th cup tie in 5 games (and another one on Saturday). Tuesday night we entertain Rocester in the Staffs Senior Cup.

This will be our first game defending “our” trophy that we picked up last season when beating Hednesford at Stoke City, so we do not want a banana skin of a game. Despite a weakened side losing at Lye in the Walsall Senior Cup, I am pretty sure Steve Burr will take no chances this time, but we can expect some changes to give squad players much needed pitch time.

Despite their position we need to respect Rocester but ensure that our performance enhances players prospects for the games ahead. Steve from his own words is developing a useful squad which he believes has the potential to climb the league, so we can hopefully expect a good attacking game on Tuesday. Rocester arrive in a precarious position in the Midland League Division 1 (step 6, one division below Lye) in 17th place of a 19-team division. They have played 12 games, and surprisingly 8 at home yielding 1 win (3-2 to Nuneaton Griff) and 1 draw (0-0 derby game with Uttoxeter). Their 4 away games have seen 1 win (3-2 at Heath Hayes). Their most recent game was last Saturday losing 3-0 to table toppers Lichfield City. Rocester’s only other win was a 3-2 defeat of Brocton ion the previous round of the Staffs Senior Cup.

 

We have played on this date this century 6th November.

2001       Guisley                                                 H             4-2          FA Trophy Replay

2004       Hinkley                                                 A             1-3         FA Trophy

2012       Wolverhampton Casuals                   A             3-1          Walsall Senior Cup

 

 

Stafford Rangers 1-1 Gainsborough Trinity

Stafford Rangers 1-1 Gainsborough Trinity

Nov 4, 2018 | Match Report

EVO-STIK NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 3 NOVEBMER 2018

Rangers’ manager Steve Burr saw it as two points dropped after watching his side held to a draw by Gainsborough Trinity on the day when the club paid tribute to President Jon Downing along with the victims of the Leicester City helicopter crash and those who lost their lives in the cause of freedom in numerous conflicts around the world. The Boro were without Tom Thorley who picked up an injury at Chasetown while Dan Burns was suspended but making his debut was newcomer Andrew Haworth following his move from Bamber Bridge while another new face Andrai Jones made his first start after a substitute appearance in midweek.

A gusty wind made life difficult for both teams and the first half produced few chances.

But Rangers did take a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to a 12th minute strike from Izak Reid who side stepped his man to fire past Marcus Dewhurst although much of the hard work was done by Haworth whose persistence saw him force his way past two defenders.
Haworth went close to doubling Stafford’s lead with a volley after James Askey’s long ball had held up in the wind. Dewhurst was almost caught off guard, but he managed to gather at the second attempt.

But the best chance Rangers created fell to Theo Bailey-Jones just before the interval. Haworth was again involved with a lay off from Lewis Banks’ initial ball. Bailey-Jones created himself a yard of space but then blazed his shot high over.

The second half was a slow starter with neither side creating much apart from Haworth’s from around 20 yards shot which failed to get enough dip while a quick free kick from Gainsborough saw sub Harry Middleton put Shane Clarke through only for Sam Coulson to halt his run with a timely interception.

Simon Russell had a shot deflected wide and Alex Byrne sent a free kick wide as Gainsborough’s game became more purposeful and they were rewarded on 81 mins when Russell launched a counter attack and released Ashley Worsfold to fire past Adam Whitehouse.
Stafford had to play out the last few minutes with 10 men after sub Joe Cuff was harshly sent off for picking up two yellow cards in five minutes – the second a contentious one after his path was blocked by Joe Maguire in the area and Stafford appealed in vain for a penalty.

Stafford: 1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Lewis Banks, 3 James Askey, 4 Luke Jones, 5 Sam Coulson, 6 Andrai Jones, 7 Theo Bailey-Jones, 8 Jack Sherratt, 9 Jake Charles (12 Harry Benns 85m), 10 Andrew Haworth, 11 Izak Reid (16 Joe Cuff 76m). Unused Subs 14 Ethan Stanton, 15 Josh Green, 17 Ben Chilcott

Gainsborough: 1 Marcus Dewhurst, 2 Neil Austin, 3 Ben Gordon, 4 Shane Clarke, 5 Ioan Evans (14 Joe Maguire 33m), 6 Nathan Stainfield, 7 Alex Byrne, 8 Simon Russell, 9 Ashley Worsfold, 10 Jonathan Margetts (15 Harry Middleton 46m), 11 Alex Simmons. Unused Subs 12 Jaime Ture, 16 Damian Reeves, 17 Elliot Wilson.

Cautions: Haworth, L Jones (Rangers); Byrne, Maguire (Gainsborough)
Sent Off: Cuff (Rangers) – 2 cautions

Referee: Darren Rogers

Att: 457

Report by Chris Elsley

Gainsborough Trinity

Oct 31, 2018 | Club News

Gainsborough Trinity Football Club was formed in 1873 as Trinity Recreationists, set up by the vicar of the Holy Trinity Church for young parishioners. In 1889 they became members of the Midland Counties League. They won the Midland League championship in 1890/91 and after finishing runners-up the following season were elected to the Football League Second Division. Their first match was against Newton Heath who later became Manchester United. Gainsborough struggled and returned to the Midland League in 1912. In 1969 they became founder members of the Northern Premier League. Gainsborough have never won the NPL but were the longest-serving member of the NPL, ending a 36-year stay after finishing tenth in the Premier Division to earn a place in the Conference North for 2004/05. Current Stafford resident and ex Aston Villa star Brian Little had a short spell as manager of Gainsborough. Relegation from the National League North has enabled us to meet again for League fixtures after many years. Our FA Trophy defeat at Northolme last season was our most recent meeting, following regular encounters in the 70’s.

At the start of this season Gainsborough made it clear that they wanted a swift return to the National League North, like Altrincham did last season, with the signing of prolific strikers Damian Reeves and Ross Hannah. We all remember Reeves at Shaw Lane last season, but to help us Ross Hannah is suspended for this game. Their home has been impressive with 15 points from a possible 18, with only Scarborough going home with points, and an emphatic 8-2 thrashing of Chasetown in the FA Cup. It is on their travels where they have not been as good, and we hope that form continues this Saturday. They have won away at Hyde and Hednesford, drawn at Witton and Farsley, and lost at South Shields, Stalybridge and Nantwich. While we were progressing in the Integro league cup tie at Chasetown, Gainsborough were losing in an FA Trophy replay further down the road at Tamworth.

This game is an important fixture as we attempt to build on a mini cup win run, and much needed confidence to get back on track with some much needed league points, so your support is much welcomed to support the team.

Games played this century on 3rd November.
2001 Guisley A 0-0 FA Trophy round 1 (won replay 4-2)
2007 Exeter H 1-5 Vauxhall Conference
2012 Blyth Spartans A 0-1 Northern Premier League
2015 Lincoln United A 1-1 FA Trophy 1st qualifying round – lost 5-4 on penalties