Nantwich Town — Stafford Rangers

Jan 1, 2026

It was another game of contrast as Rangers dominated much of the first half after taking a 10th minute lead but then collapsed to concede five goals in a 25 minute spell before Nantwich rubbed salt in to the wounds with a sixth in added time.

Neil Kitching signed experienced goalkeeper Shaun Rowley to replace youngster Arron Davies and he passed his first serious test with a good save to parry a volley from Byron Moore in the 5th minute.
By then, Rangers had already shown their intentions with Jack Birch forcing a couple of saves from Ben Garratt.
And, it was Rangers who made the first breakthrough. The goal came after a poor clearance from Dabbers’ captain Joel Connolly was cut out by Birch who saw John Atherton in space on the right and he advanced to slot past Ben Garratt in the Nantwich goal.
Rangers looked to build on a positive start and had a strong shout for a penalty turned down when Jack Sherratt went to ground.
Dylan Scott tried his luck with a couple of efforts from distance then Harry Flowers headed over from a Birch corner.
The Flowers miss may have proved costly as Nantwich levelled the scores five minutes before the interval.
Byron Harrison got his head to a deep centre from Joe Robbins and though Rowley made an excellent stop diving to his right, he was unable to prevent Moore from netting the loose ball.
The confidence switch was flicked from Stafford to Nantwich and in the remaining action of the half, it was the home side who looked most likely to score.
The Dabbers made a half time substitution with Paddy Jarrett replacing Fenton Green and the switch brought immediate rewards when Nantwich went ahead on 48 minutes. A centre from Robbins ended in a scrappy goal converted by Byron Harrison after Rowley appeared to be deceived after the ball had struck Jack Sherratt.
A buoyant Nantwich then made it 3-1 a couple of minutes later as Alex Panter was allowed unchallenged to run in and head in a centre from Robbins.
Shell-shocked Rangers went further behind on 53 minutes. Joe Collins centred from the right and the ball looped up off the head of Paddy Jarrett. A poor attempt to punch clear by Rowley presented Moore with a free header.
The afternoon went from bad to worse as Robbins slipped Panter through the middle to make it 5-1 on 64 minutes.
Game over, there was nothing to inspire Rangers’ travelling fans, although substitute Ashley Fallon did hit the bar from 20 yards with a dipping shot.
All that did was to spark a little life into Nantwich and George Cooper curled a 25 yarder over Rowley in the second minute of added time.
There was time for the afternoon to get even worse as Callum Saunders burst through but Rowley did well to save.
It is now seven consecutive defeats for Neil Kitching’s side and only goal difference is keeping them out of the relegation places.

Nantwich Town: 1 Ben Garratt, 2 Aidy Roxburgh, 3 Joel Connolly, 4 Joe Robbins (12 James Baillie 80m), 5 Josh Langley, 6 Paddy Kennedy (15 Ben Hockenhull 89m, 7 Alex Panter (17 George Cooper 73m), 8 Joe Collins, 9 Byron Harrison, 10 Fenton Green (14 Paddy Jarrett 46m), 11 Byron Moore (16 Callum Saunders 77m).

Stafford Rangers: 1 Shaun Rowley, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 Jack Sherratt (15 Harley Irwin 82m), 5 Jimmy O’Neill, 6 Harry Flowers, 7 John Atherton, 8 Mason Rees (17 Ashley Fallon 73m), 9 Bradley Mansell (12 Kaiman Anderson 58m), 10 Jack Birch (14 Joe Thomas 61m), 11 Dylan Scott. Unused Sub 16 Jadel Musanhu.
Goals:

Nantwich: Moore (2) 40m, 53m, Harrison 47m, Panter (2) 50m, 64m, Cooper 90+2m
Stafford: Atherton 10m

Referee: Richard Abson

Cautions: Kennedy (Nantwich) 13m; Anderson 83m (Stafford)

Att: 845

Report by Chris Elsley

Stafford Rangers — Chasetown FC

Dec 26, 2025

The forwards harried Chasetown into several mistakes while the defence and midfield were winning their battles.

Twice they created excellent opportunities to score but both times they failed to take them – an outcome synonymous with a side wondering when the next win will come.

Then, Chasetown’s Ty Webster was allowed to cut inside onto his left foot and he fired in a shot, from a couple of yards outside the area, that beat Arron Davies in the top corner. It was Chasetown’s first serious effort on goal but paved the way to them taking all three points from this local derby.

Rangers made three changes to the side beaten at Avro. As expected, Michael McGrath returned to Nuneaton with Jack Sherratt coming back in while Jadel Musanhu made way for Jimmy O’Neill. Ashley Fallon was the other change for Mason Rees who dropped to the bench.

Rangers created a golden chance to open the scoring on 14 minutes when Kaiman Anderson put Jack Birch through on goal. Curtis Pond did well to make the initial save which allowed time for Chasetown to get bodies back and Birch’s follow up effort was blocked on the line by Nathan Cameron.

Just a few minutes later, Birch and Anderson were involved again as another good opportunity went begging, this time it was Anderson who was kept out by Pond.

The Chasetown player became the second visiting keeper to be penalised for holding the ball for longer than the permitted eight seconds but Rangers were unable to take advantage from the resulting corner.

Despite the bright start from Rangers, they didn’t take those chances and were made to pay on 38 minutes when Webster fired them ahead.

Soon after, Joe Thompson combined with Luke Yates but fired wide. At the other end, Anderson headed wide from O’Neill’s centre.

But hopes of a Stafford fightback were dashed a couple of minutes into the second half when they conceded a soft free kick on the left.

Davies elected to punch clear but his weak effort could only reach Yates who hooked the ball into the back of the net.

Harry Flowers headed wide for Rangers while Anderson fired wide but, as time went on, hopes of salvaging anything diminished.

In the early stages of the afternoon, Chasetown had looked some way off a side wanting to make a challenge for the play offs. Even now with a two goal lead under their belts, they still looked nothing more than a middle table outfit, but they didn’t need to. They just had to get the basics right and the body language of several Rangers players indicated that the points were already lost.

Rangers did pull one back when O’Neill, playing in a striker’s role, headed home Ben O’Hanlon’s centre but it was too little, too late.

The last time Rangers won a league game was on 28 October when they thumped Stalybridge 4-0.  Since then, they have picked up just 2 points, scored 12 goals and conceded 24, losing their last six league games.

Stafford Rangers: 1 Arron Davies, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 Jack Sherratt (15 Harley Irwin 90m), 5 Jimmy O’Neill, 6 Harry Flowers, 7 John Atherton, 8 Ashley Fallon (17 Mason Rees 75m), 9 Bradley Mansell (12 Jadel Musanhu 77m), 10 Jack Birch (14 Logan Cousins 75m), 11 Kaiman Anderson (Dylan Scott 63m).

Chasetown: 1 Curtis Pond, 2 Mitch Clarke, 3 Zach Findlay (14 Joe Dunne 78m), 4 Kieran Fenton, 5 Nathan Cameron,  6 Sam Wilding, 7 Tom Thorley, 8 Joe Thompson (12 Lewis Newman 90+2m),  9 Luke Yates (15 Brandon Newell 87m), 10 Ty Webster (18 Liam Kirton 63m), 11 George Cater (16 Jack Langston 71m).

Goals: Chasetown: Webster 39m, Yates 48m Stafford: O’Neill

Referee: Conor Ledgeway

Cautions: None

Att: 1,244

Report by Chris Elsley