Oct 7, 2023
Stafford Rangers overcame a battling display from Sporting Khalsa to book their place in the 1st Round of the FA Trophy.
The home side raced to a 3-0 lead but a goal on the half hour kept the visitors interested. The arrears were reduced further just before the hour mark forcing the Stafford fans to endure a nervy finish before they could celebrate their first win in 6 games.
Matt Hill gave loan signing Rakealan Jeffers his debut 24 hours after arriving from Stoke City. Tyreece Onyeka was also in the starting line up with Andy Burns and Jack Massey left out from the side that drew with Bradford.
The visitors – sitting mid table in the NPL Division One Midlands – looked determined to make an impact and Toumanz Sidibe forced an early save from Cam Belford after being put through by Peter Taylor.
Rangers went ahead with their first serious attack. Kaiman Anderson and Aaron Braithwaite combined to take the ball away from Todd Ferrier. Braithwaite advanced and exchanged passes with Jeffers before firing past Sherdon Martinez in the 8th minute.
Simon Njaria went close to adding a second after Martinez had dropped a long throw from Sam Bird before Onyeka did make it 2-0 on 14 minutes.
Again Braithwaite played his part, this time dispossessing Matt Fulloway. Anderson played in Onyeka who managed to get in ahead of Martinez to score. The goal came at a cost to Onyeka who picked up a hamstring injury and was replaced by Massey.
Khalsa went in search of the goal that would get them back into the game and Belford kept out Sidibe once more when the visiting number 10 looked set to score. A well struck drive from Singh a couple of minutes later didn’t give the Rangers’ keeper any concern but sent out the message that Khalsa weren’t beaten just yet.
Substitute Massey was the creator of Rangers’ third goal on 25 minutes. He beat Dominic Perkins on the right and squared for Anderson to steer past Martinez.
But it was far from game over and Singh outfoxed Ethan Stewart to cross for James McGrady to head Khlasa back in to it.
But Rangers were also in the mood for more and Jeffers forced a save from Martinez before Njaria was just off target from the resulting corner.
The home side then felt that they should have had a penalty when Perkins bundled Jeffers to the ground but referee Jake Allsopp wasn’t interested.
A flash point early in the second half saw Perkins and Massey tangle off the ball. Both players appeared to kick out and were fortunate that neither the referee or his assistants saw the incident. Hill wasn’t prepared to push his luck any further and replaced Massey with Blissett before any further trouble.
Shortly after coming on, Blissett thought he had extended Rangers’ lead when he converted a cross from Joe Dunne but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Blissett was still celebrating his ‘goal’ as Khalsa quickly restarted play and launched a counter attack which ended with Singh shooting just over.
It was the former Hednesford man who set up the exciting finish on 57 minutes when he volleyed in following a free kick on the Khalsa right.
At the other end, a shirt pull on Blissett from Perkins went unpunished while the Rangers sub had to watch the ball trickle past the post after a header took a deflection from a visiting defender.
In between, Singh went close to an equaliser with a deflected shot that landed on the roof of the net while Belford saved his side once more with a save from McGrady.
Although Khalsa kept looking for the leveller, it was Rangers who came closest to adding to the scoring in the final 10 minutes as Anderson’s drive took a deflection and Martinez was forced to make a good reaction save.
Stafford: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Sam Bird, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Jake Moult, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Simon Njaria, 7 Tyreece Onyeka (16 Jack Massey 16m (12 Nathan Blissett 52m)), 8 Aaron Braithwaite (14 Jay Ford 71m), 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Joe Willis, 11 Keke Jeffers. Unused Subs: 13 Jack Sandel, 15, Andy Burns, 17 Ben Woods, 18 Lewis Keeling
Sporting Khalsa: 1 Sherdon Martinez, 20 Andrew Parsons, 3 Dominic Perkins, 4 Kieron Whittaker, 5 Matt Fulloway, 6 Peter Taylor (12 Brett Lloyd 80m), 7 James McGready, 8 Todd Ferrier, 9 Gurjit Singh (14 Jonathan Letford 86m), 10 Toumanz Sidibe, 11 Sean Williams (15 Dilano Reid 68m). Unused subs 16 Carlo Franco, 17 Alex Woodhouse, 18 Luke Bastable
Referee: Jake Allsopp
Cautions: Ferrier (Sporting Khalsa)
Att: 485
Report by Chris Elsley
Sep 30, 2023
A goal-less draw earned Stafford Rangers their first point in six games although they remain in the bottom four of the Northern Premier League.
Matt Hill made one change to the starting line up with Sam Bird replacing Nathan Blissett to face a Bradford side still searching for their first win on the road.
The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening ten minutes but were unable to find a way through the Stafford defence.
Their best opportunity fell to Brad Dockerty after Simon Njaria had been caught on the ball by Lewis Hey but the Bradford number 9 was off target with his shot on goal.
Will Lancaster was also off target – shooting wide from the edge of the area after a good run through the Stafford midfield and defence.
Rangers gradually came more into the game and some good work from Joe Dunne resulted in a half chance for Joe Willis who sent his shot just the wrong side of the post.
The game was lacking in goal mouth activity and needed a spark to liven up proceedings. There was a potential flashpoint just before half time when a strong challenge from Willis on Simon Richman had the visiting team begging for a red card but referee Melissa Burgin decided it was nothing more serious than a yellow for the Stafford man.
Jay Ford replaced Aaron Braithwaite at half time and the youngster had a great chance to put the Boro ahead shortly after the restart but he sliced over from close range.
Bird went close soon after following an error from Bradford’s Mitch Lund that allowed Kaiman Anderson to get in a low centre.
Rangers were firmly in charge and asking all the questions and only a good save from George Sykes-Kenworthy prevented Anderson from opening the scoring. The former Stafford keeper later kept out a header from Willis.
Having kept Stafford at bay, Bradford hoped to steal the points with a late “smash and grab” raid although they only managed one shot on goal and Cam Belford produced one for the cameras as he leapt to his right to catch a curler from Harrison Hopper.
Despite only picking up a point it was a much improved display from the home side and one that gives some optimism that they will pull away from the relegation zone.
Stafford: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Andy Burns, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Jake Moult, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Simon Njaria, 7 Sam Bird, 8 Aaron Braithwaite (14 Jay Ford 46m), 9 Kaiman Anderson, 10 Joe Willis, 11 Jack Massey (15 Tyreece Onyeka 66m). Unused Subs: 12 Nathan Blissett, 13 Joel Torrance, 16 Ben Woods
Bradford (Park Avenue): 1 George Sykes-Kenworthy, 2 Lucas Odunston, 3 Jak Whiting, 4 Mitch Lund, 5 Luca Havern (15 Myles La Bastide 75m), 6 Will Lancaster, 7 Harrison Hopper, 8 Simon Richman, 9 Brad Dockerty (14 Chinedu Osaoebe 63m), 10 Harry Colville, 11 Lewis Hey (16 Jordan Preston 63m). Unused Subs 13 Danny King, 17 Oli Johnson
Referee: Melissa Burgin
Cautions: Belford, Willis (Stafford), Whiting, Dockerty (Bradford)
Att: 517
Report by Chris Elsley
Sep 26, 2023
Sep 9, 2023
Stafford Rangers unconvincing start to the season continued with a home defeat against Marine.
Rangers welcomed Joel Torrance for his debut. Goalkeeper Torrance, on loan from Salford City, came in for the suspended Cam Belford as the only change from last week’s FA Cup win against Atherstone.
It was visitors Marine who started the better of the two teams with their first chance coming in the 4th minute when Nathan Woodthorpe had a shot which Joe Dunne blocked, the ball diverting out for a corner.
Rangers had their first effort in the 11th minute. Nathan Blissett got his head to a long kick from Torrance and, with the Marine defence failing to clear, the ball fell back into the path of the Stafford striker but he sent his shot wide of the target.
Play became scrappy gaqme with both teams struggling with the heat but Rangers had their second chance of the afternoon through Joe Willis whose shot also went wide.
Midway through the first half, Marine began to step up their approach play. Fin Sinclair-Smith missed an opportunity when he couldn’t get a clear shot in and Jake Moult cleared.
Rangers responded through Niah Payne with a shot from 30 yards out which was straight at Marine keeper Felix Goddard.
Marine opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Sinclair-Smith got to the byline. His cross was kept out by Torrance’s feet, but the rebound fell to Darius Osei who was left with a simple task.
In a search for an equaliser, Willis sent in a left foot volley from 25 yards out which Goddard saved while Simon Njaria had a shot that just skimmed past the post. Rangers then had the golden opportunity to pull a goal back just before the interval when Ethan Stewart headed a Sam Bird cross but it went back across the goal before being cleared by the Marine defence.
As with the first half, the visitors began the second as the better of the two sides and Torrance was needed to keep out a shot from Sol Solomon struck from the edge of the area.
But Rangers were still in the contest and missed out through both Stewart and Kaiman Anderson who failed to convert good chances that came their way while a curling shot from Aaron Braithwaite had a curling shot also went the wrong side of the post.
Shortly before Braithwaite’s effort, Torrance had prevented Marine from doubling the lead with good saves from Will Russ and Solomon.
Russ saw another chance go begging for Marine Torrance denied him in a one-on-one contest but when Solomon found himself in a similar situation, the Stafford keeper could only bring him down in the area. Solomon stepped up to drive home the 78th minute penalty.
Tyreece Onyeka missed out on a chance to get a late consolation goal for Rangers when he could only find the side netting.
Stafford: 1 Joel Torrance, 2 Sam Bird, 3 Joe Dunne (15 Ben Woods 89m), 4 Simon Njaria (17 Ethan Morgan 89m), 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Kaiman Anderson, 8 Aaron Braithwaite, 9 Nathan Blissett (16 Tyreece Onyeka 56m), 10 Joe Willis, 11 Niah Payne. Unused Subs: 12 Andy Burns, 14 Alex-Ray Harvey
Marine: 1 Felix Goddard, 2 Kyle Hayde, 3 Nathan Woodthorpe, 4 Willem Tomlinson (16 Charley Doyle 46m), 5 Chris Doyle, 6 Josh Wardle, 7 Finlay Sinclair-Smith, 8 Louis White, 9 Darius Osei (15 Jonathon Spittle 74m), 10 Sol Solomon, 11 Manasse Mampala (14 Will Russ 60m). Unused subs: 12 Jake Burton, 17 Joseph Ferguson
Referee: Lewis Smith
Cautions Torrance (Stafford), Tomlinson (Marine)
Att: 644
Report by Mark Bennett
Sep 2, 2023
Stafford Rangers cruised into the next stage of the FA Cup after a first qualifying round 2-0 win over Atherstone Town.
The sun was shining at the Stan Robinson Stadium, and the 649 attendees saw an action-packed game which could be dubbed as a ‘proper cup tie’.
Nathan Blissett gave Matt Hill’s Rangers the lead in the 16th minute before Kaiman Anderson added a second from the spot. The first half saw two sendings off for the away side with Nathan Astill and Sam Belcher shown red.
Stafford succumbed to some early pressure from Atherstone but were unable to deny the away side in an early scramble in the box. Rangers forward Niah Payne tried his luck with an overhead kick in the fifth minute, but it was held easily by Carl O’Neill in goal.
Reece Massey received a yellow card for Atherstone before Nathan Blissett nodded Stafford into the lead. Payne showed great determination to regain the Rangers possession and Blissett headed fantastically diving and steering Payne’s cross home.
One became two on the half-hour mark as defender Callum Rudd denied Jake Moult for Stafford Rangers with his hands. The defender avoided a red card but Stafford earnt a spot kick. Kaiman Anderson converted well into the bottom-left corner and extended the home side’s lead to two.
Rangers forward Anderson could’ve had a second eight minutes later as his powerful shot towards the top-right corner crashed against the woodwork.
And, things went from bad to worse for Atherstone on the stroke of half-time as Nathan Astill was sent off for the away side. The defender who had received an earlier yellow card for arguing with the referee brought down Joe Willis off the ball as the Rangers attacked forward, and was sent off by Joseph Pettitt.
Additionally, at half time assistant manager and player Sam Belcher was shown a red card by the referee for arguing against the decisions given against his side.
The cup tie drama continued after the break as Moult headed over at close-range for the Rangers and Joe Willis saw his free-kick effort saved.
In the 69th minute, Atherstone were lucky not to be reduced to nine, as goalkeeper Carl O’Neill brought down striker Kaiman Anderson. Anderson beat the Atherstone last man for pace and found himself through on goal before the forward has taken out by O’Neill on the edge of the box. The Atherstone goalkeeper remarkably came away with no punishment and was able to tip over Joe Willis’ free-kick effort.
The fiery FA Cup encounter saw players from both sides clash as Aaron Braithwaite was off-target with his effort 12 minutes from time.
And, Kev Hemagou looked to salvage some consolation for Atherstone late on as he ran through on goal, but under challenge from Jake Moult went down in the box and saw his appeal for a penalty waved away.
The Rangers held on for the FA Cup win and progressed through to the next round, already one stage further than they were able to reach last season.
By Luke Powell
