Atherton Collieries v Stafford Rangers

REPORT

Stafford Rangers picked up another important point in their fight to climb away from the bottom four of the NPL Division One West.

The Boro were unable to make it five wins on the trot but a draw extended their unbeaten run to five games and, just as importantly, they stopped fellow strugglers Atherton Collieries from gaining any ground.

Rangers were without Callum King-Harmes who was unavailable but his absence allowed a return for John Atherton. One further change saw Scott Wara come in for Ashley Fallon.

The visitors made a good start and, on another day, could have easily been two or three goals up inside the first 20 minutes.

Dan Cockerline was involved in all the opportunities and, although none of them were certainties, a bit more luck could have seen Rangers firmly in the driving seat.

The striker saw an early shot blocked, a header directed straight at the Atherton keeper and another shot sliced wide with Cockerline off balance.

A deep free kick created further problems in the Atherton penalty area with Cockerline and Jack Burgess both having shots blocked while both John Atherton and Kaiman Anderson were unable to find a finish following a Jimmy O’Neill throw.

At the other end, the best chance to fall to the home side came in the opening 10 minutes when Wara’s defensive header fell to Ethan Kershaw but his hooked shot was wide of the target.

It was a slip by Wara that led to Atheron taking the lead on the half hour. The central defender failed to clear a header from Joe Piggott and Matt Bryan had time to curl a super finish over Cam Belford and into the top corner from around 20 yards out.

Rangers fought back well but despite producing some good approach play, they were unable to pose much of a threat to the home goal until added time when Cockerline put the ball over the bar following a neat flick on from Anderson.

With the slope in their favour after the break Rangers continued to look the most threatening but still struggled to test the home keeper. James McQuilkin did put in a good strike but it was deflected wide by the boot of an Atherton defender.

Then, as the game was approaching the hour mark, Rangers were given a golden opportunity to draw level when Piggott shoved Wara to the ground as Anderson delivered a high ball into the area. Referee Daniel McDonald pointed to the spot but Anderson’s kick was poor and Sol Honor was able to save then grab the loose ball before Anderson could follow up.

Rangers deserved to be on level terms and finally got there on 79 minutes when McQuilkin’s corner bounced off Wara and fell to the feet of Ackeme Francis-Burrell who stabbed the ball home at the second attempt.

Both sides had chances to win it in the final stages Kershaw saw a shot spin away off Wara while a header from Danny Lafferty drifted just wide of the Stafford goal.

Cockerline then put Anderson in but his shot bobbled through to Honor.

A late injury to Belford contributed to more than 12 minutes of added time and in the final one, a superb save from Honor prevented Michael McGrath from becoming Rangers’ match winner.

Atherton Collieries: 1 Sol Honor, 2 Joe Rothwell, 3 Danny Lafferty, 4 Danny Lambert, 5 Alex Doyle, 6 Calen Gallagher (14 Jack Dorney 90m), 7 Aaron Dwyer (17 Kielan Adams 76m), 8 Ethan Kershaw (12 Joe Edwards 84m), 9 Scott Bakkor, 10 Joe Piggott, 11Matt Bryan – only 3 subs named.

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 Michael McGrath, 5 Scott Wara, 6 James O’Neill, 7 John Atherton (15 Joe Morley 69m), 8 Jack Burgess (14 Ackeme Francis-Burrell 75m), 9 Dan Cockerline, 10 James McQuilkin, 11 Kaiman Anderson. Unused Subs 12 Ashley Fallon, 16 Max Barlow, 17 Jack Schollar

Referee: Daniel McDonald

Cautions: Dwyer, Piggott (Atherton) Burns, Anderson (Rangers)

Attendance: 357

Report by Chris Elsley