Morpeth Town v Stafford Rangers

REPORT

Stafford Rangers returned home pointless from their long trip to the North East after Morpeth struck twice in four minutes to overturn a half time deficit.

After a even opening that produced little in terms of goal mouth action, Rangers went ahead on 14 minutes through Derek Ubah who rose high to head home a throw from Tom Tonks.

The Stafford goalscorer almost added a second from a similar situation on 29 minutes but he failed to get enough contact and the ball ran wide of the far post.

The game began to open up and Morpeth got their first look in after Josh King had shown some skill to flick the ball past Jack Baxter. Chris Reid got in a shot but it wasn’t clean enough and Cam Belford saved.

Play immediately switched to the opposite end of the pitch but Baxter’s shot struck Morpeth’s Liam Noble before deflecting off John Atherton for a goal kick.

Jack Foalle sent a shot over the Stafford bar then forced a save from Belford before Reid put his effort across the face of goal as Rangers took their lead into the break.

Morpeth asked the first question of the second half when Reid headed against the base of the post from Noble’s corner.

Rangers responded immediately as Atherton beat Lowson to the ball on the edge of the Morpeth area but he took time to find his feet and the home keeper was able to get back and make the save.

Morpeth were gifted an their equaliser when Foalle went to ground rather easily under a challenge from Joe Dunne. Referee David Pill judged in favour of the home side and Noble slammed home the 54th minute penalty.

Morpeth were now on the front foot and went ahead four minutes later with a quality finish from Sam Fishburn who controlled Noble’s through ball before volleying past Belford.

Rangers had a couple of opportunities to get back level. Lowson could only parry Baxter’s shot from the edge of the area. Tonks followed up but his header went straight to the home keeper.

Five minutes later, Alex-Ray Harvey fired wide after failing to find any inswing on his 20 yard effort.

Manager Matt Hill threw on subs Alex Kiwomya, Jaiden White and Ntumba Massanka as he sought to get back level but his side were unable to find a way through.

To add to Rangers’ misery, Massanka was sent off for dissent after the final whistle.

Morpeth Town: 1 Dan Lowson, 2 Josh Robson, 3 Chris Reid, 4 Josh King, 5 Ryan Wombwell, 6 Michael Turner, 7 Jack Foalle, 8 Liam Noble, 9 Sam Fishburn (14 Dale Pearson 90m), 10 Ryan Donaldson (16 Connor Pani 86m), 11 Connor Thomson. Unused Subs 12 Callum Morris, 15 Henry Harvey – only four subs named

Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Jack Baxter (16 Ntumba Massanka 75m), 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Derek Ubah, 7 Joe Kenton (17 Jaiden White 68m), 8 Tom Tonks, 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Alex-Ray Harvey, 11 John Atherton (12 Alex Kiwomya 59m). Unused Subs 14 Darius Smith, 15 Joe Willis
Referee: David Pill Cautions: Turner, Foalle (Morpeth), Belford, Dunne, Tonks (Stafford)

Sent Off: Massanka (after final whistle)
Att 407

Report by Chris Elsley