Stafford Rangers v Lancaster City

REPORT

Stafford Rangers completed their first league double of the season with a 2-1 victory at Marston Road over Lancaster City.

The win built up on the progress made on Tuesday night that saw them pick up a point against Ashton United.

Rangers were missing Callum Saunders through injury which allowed Kaiman Anderson an opportunity to return to the starting line up. The other change saw Jimmy O’Neill return in place of Luis Morrison-Derbyshire.

Stafford started brightly and almost took a second minute lead through O’Neill but visiting keeper Sam Waller got down to save at the foot of his right hand post.

Stafford dominated the opening 10 minutes but gradually Lancaster began to enjoy more of the ball themselves. Nathan Woodthorpe got in a header from Sam Bailey’s free kick but Cam Belford was on watch as it drifted wide.

At the other end, Tom Tonks was off balance as he sliced a shot from the edge of the area while Jack Baxter’s shot, following a Joe Dunne free kick, also failed to threaten the Lancaster goal.

Baxter was involved as Rangers took a deserved lead on 25 minutes. The midfielder’s inswinging corner was headed down by Ethan Stewart and Anderson nipped in to put Rangers ahead with his 10th goal of the season.

Tonks made it 2-0 on 38 minutes with his second successful penalty in as many matches. The spot kick came after Joe Kenton was tripped by Woodthorpe.

Belford tipped over a looping header from Lancaster defender Rudy Misambo but the Rangers’ keeper was at fault as Lancaster reduced the arrears 3 minutes before half time.

An attempt to punch clear a corner saw the ball loop up and ,in the tangle that followed, Andy Burns tripped Woodthorpe. Bailey converted with a well taken spot kick.

After Tonks had gone just wide from distance at the start of the second half, Lancaster began to look more of a threat although they found Stewart on top form.

The defender somewhat unwittingly blocked a shot from the experienced David Norris but had the composure to clear the danger as the ball ran loose.

Christian Sloan and Nic Evangelinos both tried their luck but Belford gathered comfortably.

The visitors made a double substitution on the hour as they sought an equaliser. Captain Niall Cowperthwaite tried to set up Evangelinos but Stewart was again in the right place at the right time.

One of those Lancaster subs, Charlie Bailey, sent a shot past Belford from a tight angle on the left. It was cut out by Joe Dunne but, in doing so, the Rangers defender set up Charlie’s brother Sam but he sent the ball high over the Shed End roof.

Matt Hill gave Tyreece Onyeka his home debut as replacement for Baxter and he enjoyed a lively 20 minutes of the action. He looked to have won his side a second penalty when he went to ground after clipping the ball past Waller but the referee turned down the appeals, posing the question why wasn’t the Stafford man cautioned?

The former Crewe Alex youngster was again in the action when he beat Sam Bailey but failed to get a shot in and Pawel Zuk cleared.

As Lancaster pressed for an equaliser in the final stages both Tonks and Onyeka tried their luck from a long way out but both efforts were just off target.

Rangers have now hit the 40 point mark with 10 games remaining and although a relegation battle is still not out of the question, this win will go a long way to ensuring their survival.

Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Alex-Ray Harvey, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 James O’Neill, 7 Joe Kenton, 8 Tom Tonks, 9 Kaiman Anderson (15 Ethan Morgan 87m), 10 Joe Willis (12 Luis Morrison-Derbyshire 77m), 11 Jack Baxter (14 Tyreece Onyeka 67m). Unused subs 13 Jack Sandel – only four subs named

Lancaster: 1 Sam Waller, 2 Sam Bailey, 3 Kyle Brownhill, 4 Pawel Zuk, 15 Rudy Misambo, 6 Nathan Woodthorpe, 7 Christian Sloan (16 Dominic Lawson 60m (14 Bradley Carrol 70m)), 8 Niall Cowperthwaite, 9 Nic Evangelinos, 10 David Norris, 11 Matthew Tweedley (19 Charlie Bailey 60m). Unused Subs 12 Paul Jarvis, 18 Edward Ikpakwu

Referee: Sam Wesson

Cautions: Cowperthwaite (Lancaster)

Att : 544

Report by Chris Elsley