Jan 20, 2024
Time is starting to run out for Stafford Rangers if they want to start to lift themselves out of the Northern Premier League’s relegation zone.
Saturday’s defeat at home to Worksop was their third in succession and their third consecutive outing without scoring a goal, leaving the Boro with a miserable start to 2024.
A couple of months back, Worksophad thumped Rangers 5-0 in what proved to be Matt Hill’s final game in charge of the club. While the visitors were unable to replicate the scoreline this time around, once they had taken the lead in the 12th minute, there was little doubt about where the three points would be going.
Dave Cooke fielded loanee Zak Kempster-Down for his debut at left back with Ben Woods dropping to the bench but it will need several more new faces with more experience for Rangers to kick start their campaign.
The visitors got the ball in the Stafford net within a minute of the kick off but Vaughan Redford was flagged offside.
Jay Rollins fired straight at Cam Belford before The Tigers opened the scoring following Terry Hawkridge’s corner.The ball was played into the Stafford 6 yard box but visiting skipper Hamza Bencherif was the only player who made a real effort to get to it, climbing high to head past a couple of Stafford defenders on the line.
It could have been 2-0 five minutes later when Hawkridge floated the ball in from the left. Rollins got in ahead of Kempster-Down but stabbed his effort wide of goal.
All the openings were being created by the visitors – Bencherif headed wide while Kempster-Down needed to clear off the line following Hawkridge’s free kick.
In the final minutes of the first half, Jake Moult was on hand to block from Josh Wilde, Connor Heath cleared off the line from Bencherif and an error from Belford was cleared up by Andy Burns. Rangers were grateful to just be the one goal behind.
The story was pretty much the same after the interval. Redford ended some good approach play from Worksop with a poor finish that went high over then Wilde headed straight at Belford.
Some good play by Rollins on the Worksop left led to the visitors doubling their lead on 72 minutes. Rollins did well to retain possession before Sam Wedgebury centred for Redford who nodded back for Jordan Burrow to head past Belford. It was all too simple.
Stafford only managed one meaningful effort on goal throughout the afternoon but visiting keeper Seb Malkowski was more than equal to a good strike from A-Jay Leitch-Smith.
Rangers remain in 19th place but five points from safety with 13 games to play.
Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Zak Kempster-Down (12 A-Jay Leitch-Smith 79m), 4 Simon Njaria, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Tyreece Onyeka (16 Nathan Blissett 64m), 8 Joe Willis, 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Connor Heath. Unused Subs: 13 Jack Sandel, 14 Kingston Fligg, 15 Ben Woods
Worksop: 13 Seb Malkowski, 2 Regan Hutchinson, 3 Josh Wilde, 4 Sam Wedgebury, 5 Hamza Bencherif, 6 George Taft, 7 Terry Hawkridge (16 Aleks Starcenko 85m), 15 Vaughan Redford, 9 Colin Daniel, 10 Jordan Burrow, 11 Jay Rollins. Unused Subs 8 Paul Green, 12 Deegan Atherton, 17 Jack Broadhead
Referee: Peter Dingle
Cautions: Bencherif (Worksop)
Att: 638
Report by Chris Elsley
Jan 6, 2024
This bottom of the table clash went the way of visitors Basford United as Stafford Rangers failed to build on what was a fruitful Christmas programme.
Six points earned from their previous two games had boosted moral in the Stafford camp but they missed their chance to effectively lift themselves out of the relegation zone against a side who had yet to record an away win.
The resignation of Marske United in midweek had given Rangers a further boost as teams around them are set to lose points gained against the north-east side while the Boro were yet to play them this season.
With Sam Bird having returned to Stockport County at the end of his loan spell, Simon Njaria was recalled to the starting line up after injury but the midfielder looked less than match fit in the opening 45 minutes.
The first half wasn’t a great advert for the NPL. Scrappy play from both sides limited goalscoring opportunities and the ones that did come were followed by poor finishing. That was until 2 minutes into added time at the end of the half when Toby Ritzema produced the first serious shot on target and netted what was to be the winning goal.
The visitors had had the best of the chances up to then but Jack Thomas put his effort high over the bar when well placed while Kieran Fenton headed wide when he should have found the target.
Rangers’ best chance came a minute before Basford’s goal. Jake Moult sent in a deep free kick which was chested down by Ethan Stewart to Sean Cooke but he dragged his shot wide of the post.
Rangers had a brighter opening to the second half with Tyreece Onyeka getting in a shot that was straight at Kieran Preston then the Basford keeper kept out Cooke with his knees before saving from Kaiman Anderson. Another effort from Onyeka was scooped high over the Basford bar.
At the opposite end, Ben Woods was in the right place at the right time to clear off the line from Thomas who later fired wide from the edge of the area.
Stafford’s Connor Heath was another player to miss out when he could only find the side netting then Stewart got in ahead of the Basford defence to meet a Cooke free kick but couldn’t get his header on target.
Stafford kept pressing but couldn’t find the equaliser they wanted.
Onyeka shot across the face of goal then Cooke hit a free kick towards the top corner than Preston easily caught.
A scramble came to nothing when Anderson and Cooke got in each other’s way and when Cooke put another effort over, it just wasn’t to be for Rangers.
Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns (15 Nathan Blissett 90+6m), 3 Ben Woods, 4 Simon Njaria, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Tyreece Onyeka, 8 Joe Willis, 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Connor Heath (12 A-Jay Leitch-Smith 67m). Unused Subs: 14 Niah Payne, 16 Kingston Fligg, 17 Derek Ubah
Basford: 1 Keiran Preston, 2 Dominic Roma, 3 Henri Wilder, 4 Jack Lewis, 5 Mason Frizelle, 6 Kieran Fenton, 7 Toby Ritzema (14 Joshua Barnes 67m), 8 Jack Thomas, 9 Remaye Campbell, 10 Rev James, 11 Nathan Tyson (18 Jonathan Wafula 76m). Unused Subs 12 Owen Betts, 15 Micah Tomlin, 16 Harry Goddard
Referee: Jack Shepherd
Cautions: Njaria, Leitch-Smith (Rangers); Wilder, Lewis, Thomas (Basford)
Att: 619
Report by Chris Elsley
Dec 26, 2023
Stafford Rangers delivered their long suffering supporters a belated Christmas present with a 4-0 victory over Gainsborough Trinity.
With fellow strugglers Atherton Collieries also winning, the result wasn’t enough to lift Rangers off the foot of the table but will give Dave Cooke’s men a much needed boost in moral as they battle to avoid the drop.
Rangers made three changes to the side beaten at FC United. Tyreece Onyeka and Connor Heath who both impressed as second half substitutes came in for Nathan Blissett and AJay Leitch-Smith while Ben Woods replaced 16 year old Jack Shorrock who was recalled by Port Vale and made his Football League debut and scored in the Valiants defeat at home to Barnsley.
With Rangers going in to the game with just one win in six and a run of five straight defeats, they came up against the only side in the league with a worse six match record as Gainsborough had picked up just a single point in that time. It was therefore no surprise that this encounter took some time to settle and there was little quality on show in the opening quarter.
The closest either side came to a goal was following a mix up in the Stafford defence. Keeper Cam Belford took charge by coming off his line to clear but with his goal untended, Bobby Johnson’s effort from the right touchline drifted wide of the far post.
It was somewhat out of the blue that Rangers went ahead on 31 minutes. Ben Woods found Connor Heath with a ball down the line and the recent signing cut in from the by line before seeing his centre strike the arm of Hamish Douglas. Referee Jamie Conde pointed to the spot and Kaiman Anderson did the honours from 12 yards, rolling the ball just beyond the reach of Ben Bottomley’s right hand.
Gainsborough had half a chance to get level but Johnson’s shot struck Joe Willis just inside the area yards.
Rangers extended their lead on 38 minutes when Anderson held off a challenge in midfield to put Onyeka away on the right. The winger stumbled as he got inside the area but managed to keep his composure to slot past Bottomley.
Soon after, Anderson found the side netting from a tight angle as Rangers threatened to move further ahead.
The visitors made two changes at half time to increase their attacking options but, after a scrappy start to the half, Rangers exploited the gap at the back and went 3-0 up on 62 minutes.
Willis threaded a pass through to Connor Heath who in turn found Onyeka in space on the right. His low centre found Anderson who slammed the ball in to the roof of the net.
With memories still fresh in the minds of the corresponding fixture last season (where Rangers threw away a 3-0 lead to lose 3-4), this wasn’t a time to switch off and a similar fight back might have been launched had Declan Howe taken his chance but his shot was blocked by the Stafford defence with Belford beaten.
Nerves must surely have eased when Rangers went four up on 77 minutes. Woods sent a long ball to Anderson on the left and he got behind Ashley Jackson to pick out Sam Bird who found space with his first touch before beating Bottomley.
On a relatively quiet afternoon for the Stafford keeper, Belford was barely troubled. He went low to his right to keep out Johnson’s long range free kick just before the break and made another save from Dylan Cogill in the final stages to keep his goal intact. Both were saves that any keeper at this level would be expected to make and he was able to record just his third clean sheet of the NPL season.
Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben Woods, 4 Joe Willis, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Tyreece Onyeka (12 AJay Leitch-Smith 87m), 8 Sam Bird, 9 Kaiman Anderson (14 Niah Payne 87m), 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Connor Heath (16 Ethan Morgan 87m). Unused Subs: 15 Nathan Blissett, 17 Derek Ubah
Gainsborough: 1 Ben Bottomley, 2 George Hornshaw, 3 Ashley Jackson, 4 Bailey Conway, 5 Hamish Douglas (14 Tom Parkinson 46m), 6 Dylan Cogill, 7 Lewis Butroid, 8 Bobby Johnson, 9 Danny Devine (17 Kyle Simpson 46m), 10 Declan Howe (15 Joel Holvey 81m), 11 Jack Moore-Billam. Unused Subs 12 Fraser Preston, 16 Nathaniel Wallace
Referee: Jamie Conde
Cautions: Willis, (Stafford), Cogill, Howe (Gainsborough)
Att: 756
Report by Chris Elsley
Dec 16, 2023
Stafford Rangers suffered their third defeat in 8 days to leave them in deep trouble at the foot of the table. While many might have considered any points picked up at promotion hopefuls Warrington Rylands or Ashton United as a bonus, they would have targeted a home game against mid table Lancaster City as a game to win.
But Rangers were out-muscled by a physical Lancaster side and it was only in the second half that they showed the fight that had been needed from kick off.
There was just one change to the starting XI that had come close to picking something up at Ashton with defender Ian Kamga missing out through injury. Ben Woods came in as his replacement.
Lancaster showed their intent from the off but it took some time before the first shot came on goal – a long range effort from Sam Bailey that was comfortably taken by Cam Belford.
The cracks in Rangers’ defence were exposed as Charlie Bailey played in Jacob Holland-Wilkinson but the angle proved too tight as his shot went across the face of the Stafford goal.
A couple of minutes later, Charlie Bailey beat Woods on the Stafford left. Holland-Wilkinson set up Brad Carroll but Belford pushed the shot away, diving to his left.
The Stafford keeper produced another strong save to keep out a rising shot from Dominic Lawson before Carroll sliced wide after Simon Njaria had blocked the initial shot.
Carroll missed out again before Lancaster finally went ahead on 29 minutes with Kyle Brownhill beating Andy Burns to head in a cross from Sam Bailey.
It was no more than Lancaster deserved and only a good block from Burns denied Holland-Wilkinson as they threatened to extend their lead.
The threat was carried out two minutes into first half stoppage time as Carroll headed in from close range after Belford had saved from Holland-Wilkinson.
Rangers’ manager Dave Cooke made a change at the break with Nathan Blissett on for Sam Bird but it was Lancaster who continued to provide the greater threat and Belford saved from Brownhill low to his left.
It looked game over on 63 minutes when Lawson benefitted from a deflection off Jake Moult to add Lancaster’s third of the afternoon.
Kaiman Anderson finally gave his side a glimmer of hope when he forced a save from Andre Mendes on 70 minutes – it was his side’s first serious effort on goal.
That encouragement produced some reward three minutes later when Ethan Stewart’s defensive header sent AJay Leitch-Smith went clear and he reduced the arrears.
Blissett fired over from 18 yards out but the danger was still there at the other end with Lawson and Carroll missing out on opportunities that fell their way.
Despite over 100 appearances to his name, defender Burns is still looking for his first goal for Stafford although he came close with a rasping 35 yard drive that Mendes tipped over.
Rangers kept pressing and, three minutes in to added time, reduced the deficit further when Lawson diverted Niah Payne’s corner into his own net.
Moult missed a chance to grab an unlikely and somewhat undeserved equaliser when he fired over before Tommy Kilifin put the result beyond doubt in the eighth minute of additional time when he was left unmarked to fire in from Charlie Bailey’s free kick.
Stafford: 1 Cam Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Ben Woods (14 Tyreece Onyeka 87m), 4 Simon Njaria (12 Niah Payne 89m), 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Sam Bird (15 Nathan Blissett 46m), 8 Joe Willis, 9 A-Jay Leitch-Smith, 10 Sean Cooke, 11 Kaiman Anderson. Unused Subs: 13 Ethan Endacott, 16 Derek Ubah
Lancaster: 1 Andre Mendes, 2 Sam Bailey, 3 Kyle Brownhill, 4 Christian SLoan, 5 Simon Grand, 6 Charlie Barnes, 7 Bradley Carroll, 8 Jacob Holland-Wilkinson (12 Andrew Teague 84m), 9 Dominic Lawson (15 Robbie Deighan 90+5m), 10 Charlie Bailey, 11 Jake Connelly (16 Tom Kilifin 64m). Unused subs 13 Cole Stephenson, 14 Matty Clarke
Referee: Daniel McDonald
Cautions: S Bailey, Brownhill, Grand (Lancaster)
Att: 569
Report by Chris Elsley
Dec 5, 2023
Stafford Rangers exited the Staffs Senior Cup at the 1st Round stage with a heavy defeat at home to Kidsgrove Athletic.
It was a very much changed Rangers line up with most of the regular starting XI rested. Jake Moult made a return to action after injury while there was a first start for recent arrival AJ Leitch-Smith. Jack Sandel made his first start in goal and there were debuts for two other youngsters; Will Holt and Miles Mawson.
Sandel was in the action from the early stages of the game as he parried away a shot from Kieran Knapper. It was a sign of things to come and, when Knapper was played through on 7 minutes, the Kidsgrove man fired past the young Stafford keeper to put the visitors on the road to victory.
There were moments when Stafford had chances to level – James Carvell picked up a loose pass in midfield but his shot didn’t give Ryan Brown any concern then skipper for the night Jay Ford fired high over after a poor ball out from the visiting keeper. Niah Payne was another whose shot failed to beat Brown.
Nat Morley should have added to the Kidsgrove lead but that task was smartly taken up by Jordan Cole on 33 minutes when he pounced on an error from Taylor McMahon to rifle a shot past Sandel.
Kidsgrove were now in control and after a flick from Cole nearly caught Sandel out of position, the Grove sub added his second of the night on 38 minutes after being picked out by Morley.
The second half saw Kidsgrove remain in charge. Ben Woods blocked what looked a certain goal for Knapper before Cole completed his hat trick with a delightful shot with the outside of his right boot that swung inside the top corner of the goal.
Twenty two years ago, Rangers registered their record victory when they beat a youthful Kidsgrove side 15-0 in the same competition with current Kidsgrove boss Scott Dundas netting a hat trick for the Boro. This time, the Potteries side looked like running up a similar tally as Tyrone Cadeau made it 5-0 from around 25 yards out with 32 minutes still left on the clock.
It was damage limitation time for Rangers but Kidsgrove kept coming. Harvey Washington missed a good chance to make it six when he chipped over then Sandel saved well from Cadeau before Knapper put the rebound wide.
Mawson came closest to a consolation for Rangers when his effort was turned over by Brown.
Sandel earned himself some applause with a good save to keep out Joe Woolley’s penalty after Woods had tripped Knapper but the latter had the final say on the evening when he completed the scoring with a simple tap home in the final minute.
Stafford: 1 Jack Sandel, 2 Will Holt, 3 Taylor McMahon, 4 Jake Moult, 5 Ethan Morgan, 7 James Carvell (16 Fletcher Rushbury 46m), 7 Niah Payne (15 Henry Brereton 75m), 8Jay Ford, 9 Miles Mawson, 10 AJ Leitch-Smith (12 Lewis Keeling 50m), 11 Ben Woods. Unused Subs 14 Braulio Maieco, 17 Max Barlow
Kidsgrove: 1 Ryan Brown , 2 Jack Bromfield, 3 Owen Harrison, 4 Callum Lovatt, 5 Harvey Washington, 6 Josh Thorpe (14 Joe Woolley 75m), 7 Kieran Knapper, 8 Jimmy Garlick, 9 Jake Lovatt (15 Jordan Cole 7m), 10 Oliver Finney (16 Tyrone Cadeau 55m), 11 Nat Morley. Unused Subs 12 Kieran Harrison, 17 Anthony Malbon
Referee: Niall Smith
Cautions: None
Att: 252
Report by Chris Elsley
