Stafford Rangers v Chasetown

REPORT

A tough week for Neil Kitching ended with his depleted Stafford Rangers side losing 2-0 at home to play off hopefuls Chasetown.

The Rangers’ boss saw two of his players leave the club this week while both Jimmy O’Neill and Joe Thomas were also unavailable.

The departure of Jack Burgess and Callum King-Harmes to Stratford Town and Rushall Olympic respectively took away form players from two key midfield positions. In their places came Joe Morley and Ashley Fallon.

A good crowd (1,003) was in attendance for this Staffordshire derby but the game did not deliver the entertainment that they craved for.

Both sides mustered a couple of half chances but there was little to shout about for the first half hour. The best opportunity in that time fell to the visitors but George Cater sent his free kick over the Stafford cross bar.

A brief spell saw Stafford show a little more intent and Morley benefitted from some good play by Kaiman Anderson but his shot was deflected wide by Oliver Hayward.

James McQuilkin’s corner almost found its way into the net and Ackeme Francis-Burrell failed to shoot when well placed before Michael McGrath fired over. Another opportunity came for Fallon following a sliced clearance from Curtis Pond but the midfielder lacked composure.

Chasetown enjoyed some prolonged possession at the start of the second half but the game changing moment came on 58 minutes when Francis-Burrell led with his elbow in a challenge on Luke Yates and was sent off by referee Ryan Price.

With their numerical advantage, Chasetown started to open the game up and took the lead ten minutes later when Cater got behind Liam Brazier and crossed for Yates to head past Leon Phillips.

Joseph Thompson volleyed over before Chasetown doubled their lead on 84 minutes when Cater’s corner was headed home at the back post by Dan O’Callaghan.

A last ditch tackle from Andy Burns prevented Yates from adding a third, as did a goal line clearance from Fallon to deny O’Callaghan.

One positive for Stafford was the return of striker Dan Cockerline following his hamstring injury.

Stafford Rangers: 1 Leon Phillips, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 James McQuilkin, 5 Michael McGrath, 6 Liam Brazier, 7 Joe Morley (12 Dan Cockerline 57m), 8 Ackeme Francis-Burrell, 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Ashley Fallon, 11 John Atherton (14 Max Barlow 87m). Unused Subs 15 Henry Brereton, 16 Jack Schollar, 17 Jude Hill

Chasetown: 1 Curtis Pond, 2 Oliver Hayward (15 Joseph Thompson 36m), 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Kieran Fenton, 5 Dan O’Callaghan, 6 Sam Wilding, 7 Tom Thorley, 8 Sam Unitt, 9 Ben Lund (17 Max Chimines 66m), 10 Luke Yates (12 Jordan Evans 86m), 11 George Cater (16 Alfie Taylor 89m). Unused Subs 14 Kris Taylor

Referee: Ryan Price

Cautions: McGrath (Stafford); Wilding (Chasetown)

Sent Off: Francis-Burrell (Stafford)

Attendance: 1,003

Report by Chris Elsley