Newcastle Town v Stafford Rangers

REPORT

Stafford Rangers’ troubles at the wrong end of the NPL Division One West continued with defeat at Staffordshire rivals Newcastle Town.

It was a poor game with neither side impressing. A bobbly pitch didn’t help the flow of football but that was little excuse for what was on show. Rangers arguably had the better of the first half but went in behind at the break after the home side struck twice in three minutes on the stroke of half time.

With Ras Alamu missing through injury, Dale Belford gave Joe Morley a recall to the starting line up but he struggled to establish himself and was replaced at half time. Ashley Fallon also returned was Ashley Fallon with Jack Burgess dropping to the subs bench.

Rangers had a great chance to open the scoring inside the first minute when a poor header from Newcastle’s Tom Thorley let in Zidan Sutherland but his shot was well saved by \Joe Slinn while Thorley redeemed himself with a block to deny Kaiman Anderson from the rebound.

Chances were few and far between and, after that golden opportunity, fans had to wait until the 40th minute before they witnessed another threat on goal.

This time it went to the home side. Rangers conceded possession in midfield and Tim Grice put Nathan Barry through but, with just Cam Belford to beat, the Newcastle man saw his shot strike the outside of the post.

Despite this chance, it was still against the general run of play when Newcastle took the lead in the 43rd minute.

They were awarded a free kick on the right about 10 yards in from the touchline. Carlos Dos Santos struck an inswinger which appeared to catch Belford off guard as it sailed into the roof of the net.

Two minutes later, Belford was beaten again from a similar position. This time it was in open play as Ty Webster’s cross found its way across the Stafford keeper and inside the far post.

Dale Belford had already decided to make changes at the break and, along with Morley, another player to be withdrawn was John Atherton who was later reported to be struggling with a tight hamstring.

Ben O’Hanlon came on at left back, allowing Sam Fitzgerald to move into midfield, while Jimmy O’Neill took up his increasingly familiar position at the heart of the Rangers’ attack.

The changes reaped early reward when, on 54 minutes, Zidan Sutherland collected James McQuilkin’s cross and turned before smartly firing past Slinn.

Sadly, Rangers failed to build on their path back into the game and the nearest they came to an equaliser was two long efforts from McQuilkin but neither gave Slinn too much to worry about.

It was a game that won’t live long in the memory and Rangers need to start putting together much better performances if they are to get themselves out of the relegation zone.

Newcastle Town: 1 Joe Slinn, 2 Jack Derbyshire, 3 Oli Ritchie, 4 Jack Sherratt, 5 Tom Thorley, 6 Kyle Stubbs, 7 Ty Webster (15 Oly Armstrong 55m), 8 Carlos Dos Santos, 9 Tim Grice, 10 Nathan Barry, 11 Jake Twyford (14 Tom Jones 66m). Unused Subs 12 Cameron Bradbury-Allen, 16 Jake Avery, 17 Max Beddow

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Callum King-Harmes, 3 Sam Fitzgerald (15 Jack Burgess 73m), 4 James McQuilkin, 5 Andy Burns, 6 Michael McGrath, 7 Joe Morley (14 Ben O’Hanlon 46m), 8 Ashley Fallon, 9 Zidan Sutherland, 10 Kaiman Anderson, 11 John Atherton (12 Jimmy O’Neill 46m). Unused Subs 16 Max Barlow, 17 Liam Brazier

Referee: Jack Lambert

Cautions: Fallon (Stafford)

Attendance: 384

Report by Chris Elsley