Stafford Rangers — Eccleshall FC

REPORT

This time around, it was an embarrassing defeat at home to Eccleshall in the Staffordshire Senior Cup semi final.

Graham Deakin picked a strong side which saw the return of Harry Flowers after injury but the tall defender lasted just 39 minutes before he was sent off for a ‘professional’ foul.

By that time, the damage had been done as Eccleshall had already built up a two goal lead.

The signs were there from early on when Nicky Parker got ahead of Adisa Osayande but the Staffordman managed to get back to make a last ditch tackle before Parker could shoot.

Osayande found himself up against the vastly experienced Danny Glover and, on 15 minutes, the ex Port Vale forward got the better of Osayande to put Morgan Russell away and Eccleshall 1-0 up.

Despite the visitors having the better of the chances at this stage, the goal was arguably against the run of play but Stafford’s best chances had only been half chances that fell to the head of Luke Edwards and didn’t threaten Natty Caslin. Regan Riley went wide with another opportunity.

Eccleshall extended their lead on 27 minutes. Glover was again involved as he held off Marsel Tola. Parker quickly flicked the ball on to Russell who was unmarked and able to fire past Scott Moloney.

Rangers had a chance to reduce the arrears when Riley spotted Jack Sherratt in space but his poor touch allowed Caslin to win the race.

Then came Flowers’ red card for pulling back Parker. As the last defender, there were no complaints at the referee’s decision.

Rangers urgently needed to get back into the game to stop the evening drifting by and they did on the stroke of half time when Jack Warren tripped John Atherton and Kaiman Anderson scored from the penalty spot.

Half Time: Stafford Rangers 1 Eccleshall 2

The second half saw Eccleshall stack players behind the ball to defend their lead but they still looked threatening on the attack and Russell should have ensured the two goal margin was restored when he attacked on the left but chose to shoot instead of passing to the unmarked Aiden Braxton-Lloyd and his shot was saved by Moloney.

Five minutes later, Moloney saved from Glover, then, in the final 10 minutes, Russell missed a gift of an opportunity to complete his hat trick when he fired wide at the back post

Sadly, Rangers lacked a plan on how to overcome the deficit whilst also ensuring that they didn’t fall further behind. The long ball was never going to get behind the Eccleshall defence and the close passing option was quickly snuffed out by the opposition.

Another humiliating night in the history of the Boro!

Full Time: Stafford Rangers 2 Eccleshall 1

Stafford Rangers: 1 Scott Moloney, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 Marsel Tola (15 Jack Birch 68m), 5 Harry Flowers, 6 Adisa Osayande, 7 John Atherton (14 Callum Wilson 85m), 8 Jack Sherratt (17 James McQuilkin 53m), 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Regan Riley (16 Dan Cockerline 73m), 11 Luke Edwards (12 Ben Woods 53m)

Eccleshall: 1 Natty Caslin, 2 Jake Vernon, 3 Jack Hassall, 4 Eric Graves, 5 Dan Harper, 6 Louis Lake, 7 Jack Warren, 8 Joe Drakeley (14 Aiden Braxton-Lloyd 46m), 9 Nicky Parker, 10 Morgan Russell (17 Brandon Hitchman 90+6m), 11 Danny Glover (16 Jack Barber 80m). Subs 12 Liam Hallam, 13 Barry Weston

Goals:
Stafford: Anderson 45+1m pen
Eccleshall: Russell 15m, 27m

Referee: Thomas Wall
Cautions: Warren 77m, Glover 80m (Eccleshall)
Sent Off: Flowers 39m (Stafford)

Att: 564

Report by Chris Elsley