Atherton Collieries v Stafford Rangers

Feb 15, 2025

Stafford Rangers picked up another important point in their fight to climb away from the bottom four of the NPL Division One West.

The Boro were unable to make it five wins on the trot but a draw extended their unbeaten run to five games and, just as importantly, they stopped fellow strugglers Atherton Collieries from gaining any ground.

Rangers were without Callum King-Harmes who was unavailable but his absence allowed a return for John Atherton. One further change saw Scott Wara come in for Ashley Fallon.

The visitors made a good start and, on another day, could have easily been two or three goals up inside the first 20 minutes.

Dan Cockerline was involved in all the opportunities and, although none of them were certainties, a bit more luck could have seen Rangers firmly in the driving seat.

The striker saw an early shot blocked, a header directed straight at the Atherton keeper and another shot sliced wide with Cockerline off balance.

A deep free kick created further problems in the Atherton penalty area with Cockerline and Jack Burgess both having shots blocked while both John Atherton and Kaiman Anderson were unable to find a finish following a Jimmy O’Neill throw.

At the other end, the best chance to fall to the home side came in the opening 10 minutes when Wara’s defensive header fell to Ethan Kershaw but his hooked shot was wide of the target.

It was a slip by Wara that led to Atheron taking the lead on the half hour. The central defender failed to clear a header from Joe Piggott and Matt Bryan had time to curl a super finish over Cam Belford and into the top corner from around 20 yards out.

Rangers fought back well but despite producing some good approach play, they were unable to pose much of a threat to the home goal until added time when Cockerline put the ball over the bar following a neat flick on from Anderson.

With the slope in their favour after the break Rangers continued to look the most threatening but still struggled to test the home keeper. James McQuilkin did put in a good strike but it was deflected wide by the boot of an Atherton defender.

Then, as the game was approaching the hour mark, Rangers were given a golden opportunity to draw level when Piggott shoved Wara to the ground as Anderson delivered a high ball into the area. Referee Daniel McDonald pointed to the spot but Anderson’s kick was poor and Sol Honor was able to save then grab the loose ball before Anderson could follow up.

Rangers deserved to be on level terms and finally got there on 79 minutes when McQuilkin’s corner bounced off Wara and fell to the feet of Ackeme Francis-Burrell who stabbed the ball home at the second attempt.

Both sides had chances to win it in the final stages Kershaw saw a shot spin away off Wara while a header from Danny Lafferty drifted just wide of the Stafford goal.

Cockerline then put Anderson in but his shot bobbled through to Honor.

A late injury to Belford contributed to more than 12 minutes of added time and in the final one, a superb save from Honor prevented Michael McGrath from becoming Rangers’ match winner.

 

Atherton Collieries: 1 Sol Honor, 2 Joe Rothwell, 3 Danny Lafferty, 4 Danny Lambert, 5 Alex Doyle, 6 Calen Gallagher (14 Jack Dorney 90m), 7 Aaron Dwyer (17 Kielan Adams 76m), 8 Ethan Kershaw (12 Joe Edwards 84m), 9 Scott Bakkor, 10 Joe Piggott, 11Matt Bryan – only 3 subs named.

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon, 4 Michael McGrath, 5 Scott Wara, 6 James O’Neill, 7 John Atherton (15 Joe Morley 69m), 8 Jack Burgess (14 Ackeme Francis-Burrell 75m), 9 Dan Cockerline, 10 James McQuilkin, 11 Kaiman Anderson. Unused Subs 12 Ashley Fallon, 16 Max Barlow, 17 Jack Schollar

Referee: Daniel McDonald

Cautions: Dwyer, Piggott (Atherton) Burns, Anderson (Rangers)

Attendance: 357

Report by Chris Elsley

 

Stafford Rangers v Nantwich Town

Feb 8, 2025

It’s now four wins on the bounce for Stafford Rangers. Their latest success came at home to Nantwich Town in a game that marked the return home for management team Neil Kitching and Nick Amos.

The duo were in place for last week’s win at Kidsgrove and they kept up the good start to their battle against relegation with another 3 point haul.

There was one change to the line up with Zidan Sutherland having returned to Hednesford. Dan Cockerline came in for his start since dislocating his shoulder at Chasetown 3 months ago.

Visitors Nantwich started brightly and could have scored inside the first minute. Byron Harrison sent Alex Panter away. He cut in from the left but saw his shot strike the outside of the far post before it eventually settled into the arms of Cam Belford.

Rangers soon responded with Callum King-Harmes finding Cockerline after beating Joe Bunney but the recalled striker was unable to find a finish.

Instead, it was King-Harmes himself who made the early breakthrough. Ashley Fallon did well to get the ball out to the wide midfielder and he again got the better of Bunney before striking the ball past Ben Garratt to put Rangers one up in the 8th minute.

Play remained competitive but with neither side really testing the keeper. They were not helped by referee Andrew Biggin who seemed keen on halting play at every opportunity and not allowing the game to flow. Biggin brandished 11 yellow cards in a game that didn’t have a bad tackle although, in defence of the official, several were for acts of time wasting and displays of dissent.

Rangers managed to hold their lead into the half time break but the visitors were again quickest out of the blocks after the interval and got a deserved equaliser on 56 minutes when James Melhado’s cross landed on the foot of Harrison and the Nantwich forward was left with a simple task.

Rangers had another set back when Ben O’Hanlon was forced off with an injury but the introduction of Scott Wara as his replacement gave the defence some added security.

John Atherton was also back in the squad after missing the last three games with illness and came on to play his part as Rangers restored their lead on 76 minutes.

Substitute Atherton linked well with James McQuilkin on the right before being bundled over by Perry Bircumshaw. Cockerline’s penalty was saved by Garratt but he followed up to smash home the rebound.

Nantwich pressed for a late equaliser but found the home side in dogged and determined mood that this one wasn’t going to get away from them. The best chance the visitors had came in the final minute of added time when the ball fell to Panter but he sent his shot high over the bar.

A fourth consecutive win – for the first time in 8 years – takes Rangers up to 16th in the table, their highest placing since mid October.

 

 

Stafford Rangers: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben O’Hanlon (12 Scott Wara 66m), 4 Jack Burgess, 5 Michael McGrath, 6 James O’Neill, 7 Callum King-Harmes, 8 Ashley Fallon (15 Ackeme Francis-Burrell 72m), 9 Dan Cockerline, 10 James McQuilkin, 11 Kaiman Anderson (14 John Atherton 57m). Unused Subs: 16 Max Barlow, 17 Joe Morley

Nantwich Town: 1 Ben Garratt, 2 James Melhado, 3 Joseph Bunney (14 Perry Bircumshaw 60m), 4 Kelvin Mellor, 5 Troy Bourne, 6 Patrick Kennedy (15 Joe Robbins 72m), 7 Tom Pratt, 8 Matthew Tweedley (12 Nathan Sandison 82m), 9 Alex Panter, 10 Byron Harrison (16 Callum Saunders 77m), 11 Kofi Moore. Unused Subs 17 Darren Thornton

Referee: Andrew Biggin

Cautions: Belford, Burgess, McGrath, O’Neill, McQuilkin, Nick Amos (Stafford) Mellor, Bourne, Tweedley, Panter, Bircumshaw (Nantwich)

Attendance: 877

Report by Chris Elsley