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

Emirates FA Cup – 2nd Qualifying Round
Saturday 22 September 2018

Stafford Rangers hopes of a good run in the FA Cup went out with a whimper as they were outplayed by manager less King’s Lynn. The home side made the perfect start with a goal in just the 3rd minute.

There looked to be no immediate danger as Ryan Hawkins chased the ball across field some 25-30 yards from the Stafford goal. He looked short of options and was running out of space, but he wrapped his foot around the ball and let fly with a super shot that beat Adam Whitehouse inside his left-hand post.

After such a dramatic start a quieter period followed with neither side creating too much. Lynn just about looking the most threatening.

Hawkins tried another from distance that sailed high over the bar then King’s Lynn won a hat-trick of corners in quick succession, the first coming after Hawkins’ header came off Harrison Holgate. Michael Clunan’s flag kick saw Rory McAuley come close, not once or twice, but three times in a scramble before Whitehouse punched clear. Soon after another shot from Hawkins was deflected out for a corner.

Rangers had a couple of moments when they looked like creating something, but they never gave Lynn keeper Alex Street much to do. In fact, the nearest they came in the first half was when Holgate’s free kick picked out Tom Thorley and McAuley was forced to head away for a corner.

The second half was a similar story as King’s Lynn dominated. McAuley headed across goal and wide from Clunan’s corner then Harry Limb tried a back flick that Whitehouse saved around his ankles.

Finally, Rangers produced a shot on goal but Jack Sherratt’s volley on the turn was well over. It was no surprise when King’s Lynn extended their lead on 65 minutes. A good move down the right saw Aaron Jones drill in a low centre which flew across goal before striking the helpless Harrison Holgate.

The tie was all over five minutes later when Clunan’s corner was headed home powerfully by Craig Parker whose run hadn’t been picked up.

Street was forced into his first save of the afternoon when he kept out a half volley from Theo then two minutes later Joe Cuff got on the end of a long clearance from Whitehouse to pull one back, but it was too late to save Rangers from defeat.

King’s Lynn Town: 1 Alex Street, 2 Aaron Jones, 3 Frazer Blake-Tracy, 4 Ryan Jarvis, 5 Ryan Fryatt (16 Kalern Thomas 82m), 6 Rory McAuley, 7 Michael Clunan, 8 Craig Parker, 9 Toby Hilliard (15 Michael Gash 53m), 10 Harry Limb, 11 Ryan Hawkins (12 Jordan Richards 68m). Unused Subs:14 Nathan Stewart, 17 Eion McQuaid, 18 Charlie Congreve

Stafford Rangers:1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Harrison Holgate, 3 James Askey, 4 Luke Jones, 5 Josh Green (14 Joe Cuff 54m), 6 Sam Coulson, 7 Lewis Banks (15 Kyle Perry 63m), 8 Tom Thorley, 9 Theo Bailey-Jones, 10 Harry Benns (12 Izak Reid 54m), 11 Jack Sherratt. Unused Subs:16 Tom Marshall, 17 Louis Briscoe, 18 Ossie Abadaki, 19 Lucas Burnett

Cautions: Clunan (King’s Lynn)

Ref: A Ellis

Att : 601

Report: Chris Elsley

(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

The post-match thoughts of Rangers Assistant Andy Fearn were spot on when he described this as a “strange game”, as Rangers were ultimately undone by around twenty minutes of clinical finishing and poor defending.

The opening stages saw both defences on top and there was no real sign of what was to come. Rangers enjoyed more than their fair share of possession in the early stages but did not force any clear chances. The hosts eventually came to life after twelve minutes as James Askey slipped in the left back position and that allowed Jude Oyibo around the back but when his cross was met by Diego Degirolamo his effort was miscued and danger was cleared. Rangers responded as Harry Benns was slipped in down the right channel and his shot was smartly saved by Theo Roberts. The corner was then played to the back post and Tom Marshall saw his effort cleared off the line as Rangers went close again. On twenty-one minutes Oyibo again beat Askey on the wing and when he cut in he beat Adam Whitehouse at the near post to give Bucks the lead. This was the start of the crazy twenty minutes that proved Rangers’ downfall. Rangers looked shaky and Harrison Holgate then conceded a free kick in the right back position, but Brad Grayson fired his free kick straight at Whitehouse. On thirty-one minutes Oyibo again beat Askey on the wing and he cut to the bye-line to cut back for Degirolamo to beat Whitehouse at his near post. On thirty-nine minutes it was three, as an excellent ball from left back Alex Brown evaded Luke Jones and Degiloramo was again round the back for his second. Just three minutes later it was four nil as Grayson battled to win the ball back and fed Brown who was still in an advanced position and he made no mistake from ten yards. Rangers briefly rallied, heading towards half time as first Benns forced a great save from Roberts and then Izak Reid headed against the angle as the half drew to a close with Rangers seriously needing to re-group.

The second half saw Louis Briscoe and Lewis Banks replace Bailey-Jones and Cuff, and the changes started to make for a more solid performance as the tide was stemmed. The lively Benns threated a couple of times as Rangers tried to get back into it, whole Reid also had a tame effort saved. Buxton, for their part, were much more contained and the free-flowing attacks were largely reduced by a more determined opposition. A Gee shot was deflected into the air and as Whitehouse came out, the ball dropped to Oyibo and his side footed effort somehow took a deflection and went wide rather than into the corner of the net. Rangers looked livelier now and Benns got into the box, from the left, where he squared back to Josh Green who reduced the deficit on sixty-three minutes. Rangers continued to limit Buxton and impose themselves on the game, to their credit. Greg Young hit a rising shot but that was the hosts’ final effort while Jones got forward and headed an effort straight at Roberts and Rangers tried to gain some pride. Rangers run of four straight wins came to a halt and a few more lessons are to be learned to get that run going again.

Att: 501

Report by Alan Gee