Stafford Rangers v Warrington Rylands

REPORT

It was an afternoon of mixed emotions for Stafford Rangers as they were held to a draw at home to Warrington Rylands.

Rangers let a two goal lead slip but it could have been much worse after they were forced to play for 70 minutes with 10 men following the sending off of Ethan Stewart.

Stafford got off to an ideal start as Jack Baxter fired the home side ahead on 9 minutes. Joe Kenton was the creator as he dispossessed visiting skipper Dean Furman. The ball was released to Joe Willis who, in turn, picked out Baxter on the left hand side of the area and he planted his shot past Luke Pilling.

Rangers looked to build on their lead but missed out when Jimmy O’Neill headed wide from close range.

The key moment of the afternoon came on 19 minutes when Stewart was dismissed for a poor challenge on Rylands’ midfielder Matt Sargent, but it was the ten men who dealt the perfect response.

Tom Tonks’ throw from the left bounced across the Rylands goal mouth before being forced in by Kenton. Despite the best efforts of Pilling, the assistant indicated that the ball had crossed the line.

With Stewart gone, Stafford were forced to make a change to maintain their defensive formation and Willis was replaced by Luis Morrison-Derbyshire while Kaiman Anderson was left to tackle a lone battle up front.

Matt Hill’s side put on one of their most organised and hard working performances of the season to keep the visitors out. Meanwhile, Anderson was pushed, pulled and prodded up front but barely got a decision in his favour.

Tonks tried his luck from just inside the Warrington half but couldn’t manage to find the target with Pilling out of his goal.

Kenton nearly added a third In what was almost a carbon copy of his earlier goal but this time, former Rangers keeper Pilling was able to claw the ball away.

As the first period edged towards 45 minutes, Warrington began to push Stafford further back but a curling cross-shot from Osebi Abadaki was the nearest they came to threatening the Stafford goal.

Rangers maintained their shape after the break but were pushed further back into defence.

For the first time, Rylands got behind the Stafford line as AJ Leitch-Smith got on the end of a long ball from Furman but the former Crewe and Port Vale forward was denied by the legs of Cam Belford who stood up superbly.

The Rylands forward glanced a header wide before he was frustrated again by another superb save from Belford.

Leitch-Smith continued to pose the greatest threat to Stafford as it needed some good defending from Joe Dunne to prevent him getting a clear run on goal.

At the other end, Rangers missed a chance to extend their lead when Baxter slipped at the crucial moment.

After making a double substitution, Rylands managed to reduce the arrears. Abadaki – facing his former club for the third time with his third club this season – benefitted when O’Neill misjudged the bounce of a high ball and slotted past Belford with 11 minutes remaining.

Rylands now sensed some reward but they had to wait until the final minute to get it. Dunne failed to clear his lines, forcing Tonks to trip Mo Touray on the edge of the area. Sean Cooke used all of his experience to put the free kick beyond the reach of Belford.

The result was hard on Rangers, particularly the likes of Al-Ray Harvey and Tonks who were outstanding, but they will also be relieved that they were able to extend their unbeaten run to 4 league games.

Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Alex-Ray Harvey, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 James O’Neill, 7 Joe Kenton (17 Callum Saunders 84m), 8 Tom Tonks, 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Joe Willis (14 Luis Morrison-Derbyshire 22m), 11 Jack Baxter (15 Nathan Blissett 90m). Unused subs 12 Tyreece Onyeka, 16 Ethan Morgan

Warrington Rylands: 1 Luke Pilling, 2 James Neild, 3 Scott Duxbury, 4 Dean Furman, 5 Sam Egerton, 6 Ben Hockenhull, 7 Osebi Abadaki, 8 Matt Sargent, 9 Mo Touray, 10 A-Jay Leitch-Smith (12 Sean Cooke 75m), 11 Jordan Mustoe (14 Jack Hindle 75m). Unused Subs 13 Matt Wright, 15 John Hunt – only four subs named

Referee: Thomas Swift

Cautions: Furman, Abadaki, Sargent (Warrington)

Sent Off: Stewart (Stafford)

Att : 496

Report by Chris Elsley