Nantwich Town — Stafford Rangers

REPORT

It was another game of contrast as Rangers dominated much of the first half after taking a 10th minute lead but then collapsed to concede five goals in a 25 minute spell before Nantwich rubbed salt in to the wounds with a sixth in added time.

Neil Kitching signed experienced goalkeeper Shaun Rowley to replace youngster Arron Davies and he passed his first serious test with a good save to parry a volley from Byron Moore in the 5th minute.
By then, Rangers had already shown their intentions with Jack Birch forcing a couple of saves from Ben Garratt.
And, it was Rangers who made the first breakthrough. The goal came after a poor clearance from Dabbers’ captain Joel Connolly was cut out by Birch who saw John Atherton in space on the right and he advanced to slot past Ben Garratt in the Nantwich goal.
Rangers looked to build on a positive start and had a strong shout for a penalty turned down when Jack Sherratt went to ground.
Dylan Scott tried his luck with a couple of efforts from distance then Harry Flowers headed over from a Birch corner.
The Flowers miss may have proved costly as Nantwich levelled the scores five minutes before the interval.
Byron Harrison got his head to a deep centre from Joe Robbins and though Rowley made an excellent stop diving to his right, he was unable to prevent Moore from netting the loose ball.
The confidence switch was flicked from Stafford to Nantwich and in the remaining action of the half, it was the home side who looked most likely to score.
The Dabbers made a half time substitution with Paddy Jarrett replacing Fenton Green and the switch brought immediate rewards when Nantwich went ahead on 48 minutes. A centre from Robbins ended in a scrappy goal converted by Byron Harrison after Rowley appeared to be deceived after the ball had struck Jack Sherratt.
A buoyant Nantwich then made it 3-1 a couple of minutes later as Alex Panter was allowed unchallenged to run in and head in a centre from Robbins.
Shell-shocked Rangers went further behind on 53 minutes. Joe Collins centred from the right and the ball looped up off the head of Paddy Jarrett. A poor attempt to punch clear by Rowley presented Moore with a free header.
The afternoon went from bad to worse as Robbins slipped Panter through the middle to make it 5-1 on 64 minutes.
Game over, there was nothing to inspire Rangers’ travelling fans, although substitute Ashley Fallon did hit the bar from 20 yards with a dipping shot.
All that did was to spark a little life into Nantwich and George Cooper curled a 25 yarder over Rowley in the second minute of added time.
There was time for the afternoon to get even worse as Callum Saunders burst through but Rowley did well to save.
It is now seven consecutive defeats for Neil Kitching’s side and only goal difference is keeping them out of the relegation places.

Nantwich Town: 1 Ben Garratt, 2 Aidy Roxburgh, 3 Joel Connolly, 4 Joe Robbins (12 James Baillie 80m), 5 Josh Langley, 6 Paddy Kennedy (15 Ben Hockenhull 89m, 7 Alex Panter (17 George Cooper 73m), 8 Joe Collins, 9 Byron Harrison, 10 Fenton Green (14 Paddy Jarrett 46m), 11 Byron Moore (16 Callum Saunders 77m).

Stafford Rangers: 1 Shaun Rowley, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 Jack Sherratt (15 Harley Irwin 82m), 5 Jimmy O’Neill, 6 Harry Flowers, 7 John Atherton, 8 Mason Rees (17 Ashley Fallon 73m), 9 Bradley Mansell (12 Kaiman Anderson 58m), 10 Jack Birch (14 Joe Thomas 61m), 11 Dylan Scott. Unused Sub 16 Jadel Musanhu.
Goals:

Nantwich: Moore (2) 40m, 53m, Harrison 47m, Panter (2) 50m, 64m, Cooper 90+2m
Stafford: Atherton 10m

Referee: Richard Abson

Cautions: Kennedy (Nantwich) 13m; Anderson 83m (Stafford)

Att: 845

Report by Chris Elsley