INTEGRO CUP WIN
Oct 18, 2017

Sutton Coldfield Town 1 Stafford Rangers 1 (Rangers win 6-5 on penalties)

Integro Cup 1st Round

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Rangers needed penalties to overcome Sutton Coldfield Town in their Integro League Cup 1st Round tie at Coles Lane.

Manager Neil Kitching used the fixture to get a first look at new signings Niall Flint and Alex Fletcher as well as giving a run out to second choice keeper Brad Caswell who was making just his second appearance for the club. On the bench was U18 player Taylor Allen and he saw just under 30 mins of action after coming on as a second half substitute.

Sutton Coldfield sit at the bottom of the Evo-Stik League Premier Division table but, with three former Rangers players in their line up, they were keen to get one over on the Boro.

A cheeky back heeled flick from Lee Knight went into the side netting following Kris Taylor’s free kick as the Royals were first to threaten, then a minute later, Rangers responded through Louis Briscoe who sent his header across the face of goal and wide.

Kieran Morris was denied by keeper Nicky Draper then Briscoe appeared rushed and blazed wide as Flint’s cross shot off the artificial surface.

At the opposite end, a poor clearance from Kai Davis fell straight to Knight and his shot had Caswell scrambling across his goal but, thankfully, the ball went just wide of the post.

Rangers looked to be getting on top of the home side with Flint causing problems on the right hand side, sending in some dangerous crosses.

A Flint corner just evaded the reach of Draper but also Briscoe who hadn’t anticipated the opportunity.

After Tyler Lyttle had sliced a shot wide for Sutton, Jack Langston was just off target for Rangers with a shot from around 30 yards out and half time arrived with both goals intact.

As with the first half, Sutton were first to show after the turnaround with Brian Smikle firing over but again there was an immediate response from Rangers and Flint should have scored when a Briscoe dummy put him through but Lewis Probert got back to make the crucial tackle.

The deadlock was broken on 52 mins when Jak Barnes fired home from near the penalty spot after the ball fell kindly to him following Lyttle’s blocked shot.

Knight went close to a second a minute later and, just after the hour mark, he missed out again with a poor effort that allowed Caswell to make a comfortable save.

Langston who had had a quiet game up to now, came into it in the last 15 mins. He was denied by Draper after an excellent through ball from Joe Thomas but made no mistake on 76 mins when he clipped the ball over the Royals’ keeper following Mat Bailey’s flick on.

Another Langston effort forced Draper to push over the bar then both Langston and Flint had shots blocked.

But Sutton could have won it in the final minute when Barnes put Knight in but Caswell was out quickly to save to force the penalty shoot out.

Sutton went first and took an early advantage when George Cleet scored but Izak Reid saw his effort come back off the post. The next six spot kicks were all successful with Thomas, Langston and Fletcher all finding the net for Rangers. Youngster Jorge Blemings missed the chance to win it for Sutton when his kick was saved by Caswell and Morris brought the scores level. Probert and Jack Sherratt cancelled each other out but when Francino Francis saw his kick saved, Mat Bailey sent Rangers through.

Sutton Coldfield: 1 Nicky Draper, 2 Tyler lyttle (12 Joe Sinton 67m), 3 Lewis Probert, 4 James Beresford, 5 George Cleet, 6 Francino Francis, 7 Brian Smikle (16 Jorge Blemings 82m), 8 Reece Webb, 9 Lee Knight, 10 Kris Taylor, 11 Bozhidar Aleksandrov (14 Jak Barnes 46m). Unused Subs 15 Josh Morris, 17 Aaron Birch

Stafford: 1 Brad Caswell, 2 Kai Davis, 3 Jack Sherratt, 4 Kieran Morris, 5 Jordaan Brown, 6 Jack Langston, 7 Niall Flint (14 Mat Bailey 70m), 8 Alex Fletcher, 9 Louis Briscoe (15 Izak Reid 67m), 10 Joe Thomas, 11 Osebi Abadaki (17 Taylor Allen 62m). Unused Subs 12 Josh Craddock, 16 Sam Griffiths

 

Cautions – none

Referee:  Greg Rollason

Att 77

 

Chris Elsley

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NPL Premier Division

Stafford Rangers v Workington AFC

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