Stafford Rangers v Belper Town

REPORT

Stafford Rangers surrendered their unbeaten record in a tame manner against a Belper Town side who came into the game winless from their opening five fixtures.

A bumper Bank Holiday crowd of 1,058 witnessed a disappointing display from the league leaders who seemed insistent on feeding the ball to Belper’s dominant central defensive pairing of Danny South and Derek Ubah.

The opening play had seen Rangers on a positive foot without threatening the visiting goal.

Belper created a couple of half chances as they settled into the game but the only effort that either keeper had to deal with was a looping header from Tom Wilson that Cam Belford took under the bar.

It was the visitors who made the breakthrough on the half hour through Luke Mangham who nodded in from close range after Joe Dunne had kept out the initial effort from South.

Adam Livingstone fired over as Rangers sought to get back on level terms and it was Tom Tonks who ensured that the home side would go in all square at the break when he pounced on a rebound in the 45th minute after Kaiman Anderson’s ball from the left had struck the far post.

Jack Baxter went wide in the early stages of the second half while Kaiman Anderson was unable to control a bouncing ball from Dunne’s long clearance.

Joe Kenton replaced Joe Willis and could have had his name on the scoresheet within a minute of coming on but he could only make a glancing contact with Tonks’ long throw.

Instead. it was Belper who grabbed the next goal – Alex Peterson attacked Harry Middleton’s right wing corner to head the Derbyshire side in front on 67 minutes.

The visitors were determined not to lose their lead again and went into defensive mode. Rangers did have chances but never tested keeper Max Culverwell.

The best chances fell to Livingstone. He blazed the first high over to end a promising position and though he did better with his second, it was an easy gather for Culverwell.

Despite the result, Rangers remain at the top of the table after six games.

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Joe Willis (14 Joe Kenton 64m), 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Jack Baxter, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Luis Morrison-Derbyshire, 7 Alex Kiwomya (16 Nathan Caine 90m), 8 Tom Tonks, 9 Kaiman Anderson , 10 Chris Clements (12 Ntumba Massanka 68m), 11 Adam Livingstone. Unused Subs 13 Ty Belford, 15 Jaiden White,

Belper Town: 1 Max Culverwell, 2 Amir Ariel, 3 Josh Woodcock, 4 Tom Wilson, 5 Danny South, 6 Derek Ubah, 7 Derry Robson, 8 Harry Middleton, 9 Alex Peterson (14 Jack Gibson 75m), 10 Luke Mangham (12 Tom Hewlett 85m), 11 Brodie Litchfield (17 Charlie Reaney 85m). Unused Subs 15 Todd Jordan, 16 Oliver Lobley,

Cautions: Willis, Baxter, Stewart (Rangers) Middleton, Gibson (Belper)

Ref: Matthew Perry

Att: 1,058

Report: Chris Elsley