Evo-Stik Northern Premier League
Tuesday 6 February 2018
A mad 5 minutes cost Stafford Rangers as they slipped to defeat against fellow strugglers Stalybridge Celtic. Apart from the home side scoring twice in the second half spell, there wasn’t too much to separate the two sides. With Karl Hawley having joined Sutton Coldfield Town and Massiah McDonald suspended, Rangers had Kyle Perry in attack following his return to the club from Stourbridge with Dan Westwood his partner.
Rangers just about edged the first half but the two defences ruled the show, closing down the opposition as soon as there was a hint of an opening. In such a game, chances need to be taken but Dan Westwood missed the one that came his way in the 9th minute, steering the ball wide from Perry’s header on.
Earlier, Jack Sherratt had fired a 25 yarder on target but it was a comfortable save for Jack Walton underneath the crossbar. The home side responded through Liam Dickinson but Jordaan Brown was there to cut out the shot. Stalybridge’s best effort came from Alex Honeyball who jinked his way past three Boro defenders only to be denied by Adam Whitehouse who saved well to his left.
Shortly before the break, Dan Westwood touched Robert Thompson-Brown’s ball into the path of Sherratt but Tom Brown made an excellent tackle to ensure the stalemate remained at half time. After a fairly even first half, it was the home side who were most threatening who were most threatening at the start of the second and they got their breakthrough on 58 mins when Connor Hughes got a favourable bounce after his initial shot was blocked and he fired past Whitehouse.
Rangers made a double substitution with Izak Reid and Joe Thomas replacing Osebi Abadaki and Dan Westwood but it was Stalybridge who struck again on 63 mins when Oli Roberts squared for the unmarked Hughes to tap in his second of the night. Rangers had the better of the final 20 mins but found it hard to break down the home defence. Thompson-Brown fired wide and Sherratt went over while Thomas struck a shot straight at Walton but they were all long range efforts. Stalybridge could have added a third after Chris Gallagher combined with Dickinson but he shot wide when he should have done better.
Stalybridge: 1 Jack Walton, 2 Oliver Crowley, 3 Alex Honeyball, 4 Tom Brown, 5 Luke Ashworth, 6 Danny Morton, 7 Theo Bailey-Jones (17 Josh Ramsden 89m), 8 Oli Roberts (12 Chris Gallagher 73m), 9 Liam Dickinson, 10 Matty Wolfenden (14 Greg Wilkinson 69m), 11 Connor Hughes. Unused subs: 15 Jake Charles, 16 Jack Taylor
Rangers: 1 Adam Whitehouse, 2 Sam Griffiths, 3 Kieren Westwood, 4 Kieran Morris, 5 Jordaan Brown, 6 Josh Craddock (12 Levi Reid 64m), 7 Osebi Abadaki (15 Joe Thomas 61m), 8 Jack Sherratt, 9 Kyle Perry, 10 Dan Westwood (14 Izak Reid 61m), 11 Robert Thompson-Brown. Unused subs: 16 Lucas Burnett, 17 Taylor Allen
Cautions: Dickinson, Gallagher (Stalybridge), D Westwood (Rangers)
Ref: Andrew Smith
Att: 173
Chris Elsley
