Stalybridge Celtic v Stafford Rangers

REPORT

A last minute goal saw Stafford Rangers start the new season with a defeat away at old rivals Stalybridge Celtic. Rangers cause wasn’t helped by having two players dismissed and two others picking up injuries to compound a disappointing start to the campaign.

It was an even affair between both sides for the opening stages with Aaron Opoku just failing to give Rangers the perfect start. The only other point of note was an early substitution for the home side with Danny Lafferty replacing central defender Sean Tse.

Celtic’s first real opportunity of the game came in the 20th minute as Jordan Butterworth connected with a header in the penalty area, forcing Cam Belford to make a good save. Soon after Jack Banister sent a powerful effort narrowly over the bar.

Celtic were close to scoring again in the 37th minute after a mistake from Andy Burns and Belford at the back but the ball was hit into the side netting by Bannister.

Rangers new signing Luca Whitney, on work experience loan from Shrewsbury Town replaced injured striker Opoku in the 39th minute and five minutes later Rangers found themselves in further trouble, as debutant James McQuilkin was sent off following an altercation and the visitors were relieved to hear the half time whistle with the scores still level, with Stalybridge having spurned some great chances, Jack Irlam being guilty of three of them.

A man down, Rangers made two more substitutions at the start of the second half, with Joe Morley and Ben O’Hanlon being replaced by Ben Hockenhull and Sean Lawton.

Celtic pressed to get the opener and Connor Hughes forced a good save from Belford who pushed the ball away, while Liam Tongue found Irlam with a deep cross, but the Celtic player could only divert it into the arms of the Rangers keeper.

Matty Bryan almost put Celtic ahead when he twisted and turned to beat four Rangers players, but Belford stood his ground and forced Bryan to shoot wide. Next to try his luck on goal was Aaron Chalmers, who chested down a half cleared corner and let fly with a 30 yard drive, but Belford was again on hand to make the save.

With time running out and Rangers looking set to open their campaign with a hard fought point, it all went wrong for the Boro. Joe Robbins foolishly got himself sent off for a second yellow card, with an act of dissent for kicking the ball away.

It was a costly moment and with a two man advantage, Celtic finally broke the deadlock with a late winner in the 92nd minute as Moses Masaba beat Sean Lawton on the right-hand side and drove the ball into the box, to find Bryan who slotted the ball home.

It was a cruel blow following all the hard work to get so close to picking up a point, after a disastrous set of results during pre-season and Rangers now face two suspensions in addition to injuries to Dan Cockerline, AJ Leitch-Smith, Callum Preston, Tyrone Cadeau, O’Hanlon and Opoku.

Stalybridge Celtic: 1 Charlie Monks, 2 Javid Swaby-Neavan (17 Moses Masaba 66’) 3 Kyle Brownhill, 4 Jordan Butterworth, 5 Sean Tse (12 Danny Lafferty 11’), 6 Aaron Chalmers, 7 Jack Banister, 8 Liam Tongue (16 Jordan Burton 77’) 9 Connor Hughes, 10 Jack Irlam (15 Joe Edwards 85’), 11 Matty Bryan (Goal 92’) Unused Substitutes- 14 Max Leonard

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Andy Burns (16 Theo Knight 96’), 3 Ben O’Hanlon (15 Sean Lawton 46’), 4 Dylan Barkers, 5 Oliver Jepson, 6 James O’Neill (17 Diego Esquivel 76’), 7 Joe Robbins (45’ 90’ yellow card/sent off), 8 James McQuilkin (44’ red card) 9 Aaron Opoku (14 Luca Whitney 39’), 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Joe Morley (12 Ben Hockenhull 45’) Unused Substitutes- N/A

Attendance: 471

Report by Scott Holmes