Congleton Town v Stafford Rangers

REPORT

Stafford Rangers were well and truly thumped at Congleton Town on a dismal night for the club as they slipped into the bottom two.

There was nothing positive to take from the game as Rangers were out run, out battled and totally outplayed from start to finish.

Although the home side started the better of the two sides, they didn’t test Cam Belford until the 13th minute when the Stafford keeper did well to push away a shot from Max McCarthy. Soon after, Sean Lawton did well to prevent Kieran Garner-Knapper from getting a shot in.

Rangers were without Sean Cooke who was unavailable while Ethan O’Sullivan made his first start in place of Theo Knight. Joining Knight on the bench was Mitch Candlin who made a handful of appearances in the Covid shortened 2020/21 season.

Pete Williams – an ex Ranger like McCarthy and Congleton skipper Darren Chadwick – tried to catch Belford off guard with a free kick from around ten yards inside the Stafford half but his cheeky effort went just over.

The traffic was all one way and it was no surprise when Congleton went ahead on 27 minutes when Dan Needham slotted past Belford.

Belford kept his side in touch with a save from George Sankey before Rangers finally managed a shot on target with a free kick from Joe Robbins but it was comfortably taken by David Parton.

Congleton doubled their lead on 39 minutes when Ben Hockenhull’s attempt to cut out a shot from Garner-Knapper went in off the far post.

It was game over by half time when McCarthy struck a superb free kick past Belford after being fouled by Jimmy O’Neill some 30 yards out (45+2m).

Dave Cooke made two changes at half time with the ineffective Stanley Anaebonam and Diego McGann making way for Jacob Edwards and Candlin but, after Robbins had gone wide for Stafford with a long range drive, Congleton added more misery to Stafford’s night.

A couple of minutes before the hour mark, Needham placed his shot beyond the reach of Belford then, on 63 minutes, Garner-Knapper showed some nifty footwork to dance his way past several Stafford defenders before poking the ball through the legs of the Stafford keeper.

Belford saved his side from a heavier defeat when he did just enough to push the ball away from Thomas Hampton.

With the job done, Congleton eased off and Rangers did create a couple of chances in the final 10 minutes – the best an Ollie Jepson header that was well saved by Parton – but they will need to do a whole lot better than this if they are to avoid another relegation battle.

Congleton Town: 1 David Parton, 2 Marco Fregapane, 3 Owen Morris, 4 Peter Williams, 5 Josh Ryder, 6 Darren Chadwick, 7 George Sankey, 8 Ethan Hartshorne (17 Callum Stringer 68m), 9 Max McCarthy (12 Thomas Hampton (15 Dorian Jedrzejczyk 77m)), 10 Kieran Garner-Knapper, 11 Dan Needham (14 Joshua Hall 85m). Unused Sub 16 Anthony Griffith

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Sean Lawton, 4 Dylan Barkers, 5 Ben Hockenhull (12 Oliver Jepson 72m), 6 James O’Neill, 7 Stanley Anaebonam (17 Mitch Candlin 46m), 8 Ethan O’Sullivan, 9 Luca Whitney (15 Lewis Porter 54m), 10 Joe Robbins, 11 Diego Esquivel McGann. Unused Substitute 14 Theo Knight

Cautions: Hartshorn, Garner-Knapper (Congleton), Hockenhull, O’Sullivan, Candlin (Rangers)

Referee: Graeme Kearney

Attendance: 581

Report by Chris Elsley