Lancaster City 2 Stafford Rangers 1
Aug 18, 2019

Saturday 17th August 2019

Report by Alan Gee

Rangers came unstuck in their BetVictor NPL opener as they paid for not matching their hosts’ early exuberance. Being 2-0 down before half time, Evan Garnett’s debut goal was a case of too little, too late, as a healthy away following witnessed this 2-1 defeat.

Lancaster came out of the traps quicker than Rangers and were straight on the attack. In just the second minute Captain Luke Jones was caught off guard and he ended up dragging down Bradley Carsley and conceding a free kick, as well as a yellow card. Rob Wilson confidently stepped up and, from around 20 yards, beat Lewis King with a low shot into the bottom corner. The hosts’ tails were up and they started to push the ball around confidently. In fact, it took until the tenth minute for Rangers to put some worthwhile play together. A tidy three man move ended with Theo Bailey-Jones’ deep cross being cut out by keeper Samuel Ashton. Lancaster came back at Rangers as David Norris found himself in space on the left but his effort flashed across goal. A while later and the danger this time came from the right with Wilson driving the ball in for Carsley to volley just over. A brief spell of pressure then saw another Bailey-Jones cross cut out, before Paul Dawson upended Matt Hill and earned himself a caution, with the resulting Andy Haworth free-kick being safely cleared. Jake Charles then went on a powerful run and his low cross into the box saw Bailey-Jones fire his diving header over the bar. On thirty two minutes, Lancaster swung play again as they won a free kick, mid Rangers half. This was launched into the box where a flick on saw young debutant Jack Armer control and prod past King for a two-nil lead. Play then settled into an even period until before half time. Firstly Lancaster came close with Wilson firing through a crowd only for King to be beaten but Hill was on the line, to clear. Then Rangers broke and Hill was involved again as he shot high over the bar.

The second half saw Joe Berks being replaced by Evan Garnett as Rangers went two up front. This affected the play and Rangers seemed brighter for longer periods. On forty eight minutes, Garnett and Haworth both scuffed shots during the same attack and that seemed to sum things up. A while later, a ball over the top saw Haworth advance but Ashton spread himself and saved a decent effort. Armer then blotted his copybook as he was carded for tripping Tom Thorley. Thorley was then replaced along with Haworth as Jack Sherratt and Jed Davies entered play. Lancaster launched an increasingly rare attack but a deep cross to the back post saw Paul Bignot excellently cutting out the chance of Wilson adding to his tally. Davies then saw his first action as he attacked on the left and his low ball was somehow sidefooted wide by Garnett. Soon after this, Charles had an overhead kick blocked as Rangers became more urgent. On eighty three minutes we saw the first reward for improved play as a corner saw Sherratt and Dan Burns both have efforts blocked, but Garnett was there, on hand, to score his debut goal and give Rangers hope. The final stages of the game became hectic and chances came and went. Garnett had an effort saved at the foot of the post, Norris was booked for tripping Bignot, A city break saw Charlie Bailey curl an effort wide, then Rangers came back with Davies having a shot saved and Jones headed straight at Ashton.

Lancaster City: 1 Samuel Ashton, 2 Paul Dawson , 3 Jack Armer , 4 Niall Cowperthwaite, 5 Glenn Steel, 6 Benjamin Hudson, 7 Robert Wilson (Samuel Joel 75′), 8 David Norris , 9 Mathew Blinkhorn, 10 Bradley Carsley (Luke Thompson 90′), 11 Charlie Bailey (Simon Wills 80′) Subs: 12 Lewis Fensome, 14 Simon Wills, 15 Samuel Bailey, 16 Luke Thompson, 17 Samuel Joel

Stafford Rangers: 1 Lewis King, 2 Paul Bignot, 3 Matthew Hill, 4 Luke Jones , 5 Daniel Burns, 6 Alex-Ray Harvey, 7 Theo Bailey-Jones, 8 Tom Thorley (Jack Sherratt 72′), 9 Jake Charles, 10 Joe Berks (Evan Garnett 47′), 11 Andrew Haworth (Jed Davies 72′) Subs: 12 Evan Garnett, 14 Sam Coulson, 15 Josh Green, 16 Jed Davies, 17 Jack Sherratt

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3:00 pm
NPL Premier Division

Stafford Rangers v Workington AFC

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