Stafford Rangers v Workington AFC

REPORT

Stafford Rangers made it two wins out of two with a hard fought victory over Workington at a sunny Stan Robinson Stadium.
The game was watched by a number of former players who had been invited to witness the unveiling of a mural commemorating some of the club’s past successes.

Rangers were unchanged from the side that defeated Bamber Bridge with new signing Kian Taylor taking a place on the bench with Ben Woods having left the club to join Avro FC.

Despite not having the best of seasons themselves, Workington are safe from relegation but any hopes that they may give Stafford an easy time of it were soon quashed.

The visitors almost took an early lead in bizarre circumstances. A long punt forward from Sam Hetherington looked to be overhit but Stafford keeper Cam Belford appeared dazzled by the sunlight. The ball struck the intersection of post and cross bar before dropping on to the goal line. Goal appeals from Workington went unanswered as none of the officials were in a good position to judge if the whole of the ball had crossed the line.

Rangers eventually began to show more promise but while some of the approach play was promising, the final delivery into the area was often not good enough.

When Tyreece Onyeka did get in a good delivery in the 28th minute, Kaiman Anderson fluffed his lines in front of goal. Fortunately Sean Cooke was on hand but even then the ball crept apologetically over the line – not that anyone from Stafford cared how it went in.

Minutes later, an attempted clearance from Finlay Wallbank struck Anderson but Stafford’s leading scorer was unable to take advantage of the situation then a strong run from George Burroughs resulted in a well struck drive from Cooke that was well caught to his left by James Atkinson.

Rangers now looked the stronger of the two sides but Workington almost levelled on the stroke of half time with another speculative effort as Conor Tinnion gained possession 15 yards inside the Stafford half and, seeing Belford off his line, tried his luck forcing the Boro keeper to scramble across and turn the ball out for a corner.

Rangers made two half time substitutions with Jimmy O’Neill replacing Isaac Lee and Connor Heath coming on for AJay Leitch-Smith.

Atkinson prevented Joe Willis from doubling the lead before Heath sent in a low drive which was comfortably gathered by the visiting keeper.

Restricted to long range efforts, Workington made a number of changes in an attempt to salvage something from their visit.
O’Neill had to scramble the ball away from danger following a flick on from Stephen Rigg. Rangers immediately launched a counter attack which was ended by Tinnion bringing down Cooke – earning the Workington man a caution.

The visitors’ best chance of the afternoon fell to Hetherington as the game entered the final 10 minutes. A good header from Rigg found the midfielder in space but he rushed his chance and volleyed wide.

Rangers had two further chances to wrap the game up. Owen German put Anderson clear but Wallbank got back to make an excellent intervention, then, in added time, Taylor was presented with an opportunity to mark his debut with a goal but Atkinson stood his ground to save with his left foot.

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 George Burroughs, 4 Joe Willis, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Isaac Lee (12 Jimmy O’Neill 46m), 7 A-Jay Leitch-Smith (12 Connor Heath 46m (14 Kian Taylor 78m)), 8 Owen German, 9 Kaiman Anderson 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Tyreece Onyeka. Unused Subs: 16 Jack Stafford, 17 Lewis Porter

Workington: 1 James Atkinson, 2 Gregory McCarragher, 3 Finlay Wallbank, 4 Jordan Little, 5 Sam Smith, 6 Ceiran Casson (14 Aidan Roxburgh 67m), 7 Kitt Nelson (12 Jake Allen 73m), 8 Sam Hetherington, 9 Lewis Reilly (16 Scott Allison 60m), 10 Stephen Rigg, 11 Conor Tinnion. Unused Subs 15 Sam Christian, 17 Daniel Eccles.

Referee: James Tewson
Cautions: O’Neill (Stafford), Casson, Tinnion (Workington)
Att: 771

Report by Chris Elsley