Aug 28, 2023
The sending off of Cameron Belford was the key moment of the afternoon as Stafford Rangers lost out to Matlock Town.
The Stafford keeper was dismissed for a high foot into the body of Matlock’s Harry Wakefield just before the interval. With no goalkeeper on the substitute’s bench, defender Jake Moult was forced to don the goalkeeper’s jersey.
The resultant penalty was easily dispatched by Jonathan Margetts to restore the lead for the visitors just as Rangers were threatening to move ahead themselves.
Matlock had taken the lead in the 4th minute when Margetts slotted home after Moult had blocked an initial effort from Wakefield.
Rangers responded well and, after several half chances had gone by, they levelled the scores through a 17th minute penalty from Kaiman Anderson after Sam Bird had been tripped by Ewan Catt.
It was a soft decision as far as Matlock were concerned but no more than Rangers deserved.
Stafford kept probing for a second but got no further joy from referee Jonathan Wyatt who allowed countless incidents of holding and shirt pulling to go unpunished.
Anderson wasted a good opportunity when he found some space – his final ball could barely be described as a shot or a cross – then Aaron Braithwaite dispossessed Kemy Augustien but was unable to find the target as he got in to the penalty area.
Matlock keeper Saul Deeney pulled off a superb block to deny Niah Payne at close range while Rangers’ appeals for a penalty when Anderson was hauled to the ground fell on deaf ears.
The turning point came five minutes before the break when Belford collected a defensive header from Joe Dunne. The Stafford keeper had a raised boot as Wakefield followed in, catching the Matlock man in the ribs. Referee Wyatt was left with little choice other than to show Belford the red card and Margetts scored the 42nd minute spot kick.
Rangers needed to keep in touch for as long as possible but it was their own undoing that saw Matlock extend their lead a couple of minutes into the second half.
A slip from Niah Payne near the Matlock goal line was followed by a poor ball from an otherwise faultless Aaron Braithwaite. Matlock sub Oliver Clark played the ball over the top of the Stafford defence and Margetts lobbed Moult to complete his hat trick.
Still Rangers kept coming and looked the better side for large periods.
Joe Willis was inches over with a terrific 35 yarder while Payne found the side netting with another effort.
But, as Rangers battled to get back into the game, they did become exposed at the back and Wakefield extended Matlock’s lead on 75 minutes with a shot that squeezed inside Moult’s right post.
Stafford still didn’t give up and Willis pulled another back on 81 minutes, finally managing to fire past Deeney at the third attempt.
But it was to be little more than a consolation for a terrific battling effort from the ten players on the pitch.
Stafford Rangers: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Sam Bird, 3 Joe Dunne (16 Ethan Morgan 70m), 4 Alex-Ray Harvey (12 Andy Burns 43m), 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Kaiman Anderson, 8 Aaron Braithwaite (12 Andy Burns 89m) 9 Nathan Blissett (16 Ethan Morgan 73m), 10 Joe Willis, 11 Niah Payne (15 Ben Woods 77m). Unused Subs, 14 Jay Ford, 17 Rory Roberts
Matlock Town: 1 Saul Deeney, 2 George Wilkinson, 3 Joseph West, 4 Kemy Augustien (15 Oliver Clark 46m), 5 Ioan Evans, 6 Jamie SHarman, 7 John Johnson (14 Mason Bridden 84m), 8 Andrew Wright, 9 Harry Wakefield, 10 Jonathan Margetts, 11 Ewan Catt (12 Karl Demidh 63m). Unused Subs: 19 Miles Wright – only 4 subs named
Referee: Jonathan Wyatt
Cautions: Bird, Dunne (Stafford) Augustine, Demidh (Matlock)
Sent Off: Belford (Stafford)
Att 743
Report by Chris Elsley
Aug 19, 2023
After back to back defeats from the opening two games, Stafford Rangers recorded their first win of the season at The Stan Robinson Stadium, beating FC United of Manchester in an entertaining game.
Rangers welcomed new signing Aaron Braithwaite to the starting XI – the young midfielder having arrived on loan from Grimsby Town. Tyreece Onyeka missed out having picked up an injury in the midweek defeat against Warrington Rylands. Jimmy O’Neill is a long term absentee following a knee injury which occurred in pre-season while Tom Tonks’ ongoing disagreement with the club meant that he was not in the squad.
It was the visitors who started the better of the two teams and they had their first chance in the 5th minute when Declan McLoughlin had a shot but he dragged it wide of the goal.
Rangers’ first serious attack saw FC United keeper Pat Boyes tip a cross out for a corner. From Alex-Ray Harvey’s flag kick both Curtis Jones and Charlie Oliver tried to clear their lines but the ball was diverted into the net – seemingly off the latter – to give Rangers a 16th minute lead – and their first goal of the season.
FC United looked for a quick response and had a golden chance in the 24th minute from Luke Griffiths’ free kick. Jones won the header at the back of the post but it was straight at Cam Belford.
The afternoon got better for Rangers on 25 minutes when they went 2-0 up. It came from the right wing with Joe Willis’ cross and Niah Payne was on hand to convert.
FC United got their way back into the game in the 37th minute when Sam Bird was penalised for handball as he attempted to block a low cross from Jay Fitzmartin. Luke Griffiths stepped up and fired straight down the middle to make it 2-1.
Looking to restore their two goal advantage, Rangers tested Boyes again just before the interval with the visiting keeper stopping a shot from Payne and, from the resulting corner, Ethan Stewart’s header.
That wasn’t the last action of the first half as a great run from Michael Donohue created an opportunity for Max Cane but Belford made an excellent save and followed it up to deny McLoughlin from the rebound.
It was Rangers who struck a crucial third on 58 minutes. A long throw from Bird was flicked on at the front post by Jake Moult and Nathan Blissett rose highest to head home.
The Boro had another chance in the 66th when Joe Willis got into a dangerous position in the box but Boyes made another save to deny the home side.
FC United reduced the arrears once more in the 67th minute when sub Nic Ballado did well on the left. He found Donohue who laid it back for another of the visiting subs, Keane Barugh, to strike into the top corner from around 25 yards out.
Chances kept coming at both ends. For Rangers, Anderson was blocked by Oliver while FC United came close to an equaliser from a corner which came back off the post before being cleared.
Ben Woods, on for Payne, forced another save from Boyes while late opportunities for the visitors through Fitzmartin and Elliot Morris went unconverted.
Stafford Rangers: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Sam Bird, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Alex-Ray Harvey, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Jake Moult, 7 Kaiman Anderson, 8 Aaron Braithwaite (12 Andy Burns 89m) 9 Nathan Blissett (16 Ethan Morgan 73m), 10 Joe Willis, 11 Niah Payne (15 Ben Woods 69m). Unused Subs, 14 Jay Ford, 17 Rory Roberts
FC United of Manchester: 1 Pat Boyes, 2 Chiekh Thiam, 3 Guy Hall, 4 Luke Griffiths (16 Paul Ennis 65m), 5 Charlie Oliver, 6 Curtis Jones, 7 Elliot Morris, 8 Michael Donohue, 9 Max Cane (14 Nic Bollado 64m), 10 Declan McLoughlin (12 Keane Barugh 58m), 11 Jay Fitzmartin. Unused Subs 15 Lewis Coulton, 17 Jan Palinkas
Referee: William Cavanagh
Cautions: Bird (Stafford)
Att 944
Report by Chris Elsley
Aug 15, 2023
Stafford Rangers were left still searching for their first point of the season after losing their opening home game of the campaign to a determined Warrington Rylands.
Matt Hill made one change from the side beaten at Lancaster City on the opening day with Nathan Blissett replacing Niah Payne. Kaiman Anderson moved to the wing with Blissett taking the number 9 shirt.
But the changes didn’t reap any rewards. The first half saw play the majority of play taking place in the Stafford half and although Rangers did show a little more intent after the break, it needed a 75th minute goal from Warrington to bring any real life to the game.
Despite the visitors’ early pressure, it was from a Rangers attack that Rylands produced their first real opportunity, Adama Sidibeh cutting inside Sam Bell before forcing Cam Belford to fling himself to his left to save.
James Nield could only find the side netting after Mo Touray’s initial effort was deflected into the path of the visiting captain. Further efforts from Touray, Joe Piggott and James Butler also failed to test Belford.
Rangers’ best chance of the half came after Jake Moult had dispossessed Nield in the centre of the field. The veteran midfielder advanced to the edge of the Rylands area but looked to be caught in two minds at the vital moment and the chance was lost.
Moult had another opportunity soon after but declined to shoot. Touray launched a solo counter attack and it needed Andy Burns to match him for pace to prevent a clean shot on goal.
Rangers did pose a slightly greater threat after the break with Joe Willis managing to get in a shot on target while Tyreece Onyeka and Blissett also went close.
But it was Rylands who still looked the stronger and a couple of minutes after Belford had turned over a shot from Touray, the Rylands’ dangerman struck – a slightly fortuitous deflection taking the ball past Belford.
But half chances which fell to both Anderson and Ethan Morgan went unconverted and Touray made sure of the points for the visitors 5 minutes into added time when he intercepted a pass from Belford and walked the ball into the next with the Stafford keeper stranded yards out of his area.
Stafford Rangers: 1 Cameron Belford, 2 Sam Bird, 3 Joe Dunne, 4 Alex-Ray Harvey, 5 Ethan Stewart, 6 Andy Burns, 7 Kaiman Anderson, 8 Jake Moult, 9 Nathan Blissett , 10 Joe Willis (16 Ethan Morgan 76m), 11 Tyreece Onyeka (12 Niah Payne 76m). Unused Subs, 14 Jay Ford, 15 Ben Woods, 17 Rory Roberts
Warrington Rylands: 1 Luke Pilling, Clive Smith, 3 Javid Swaby-Neavin, 4 Matthew Regan, 5 James Butler, 6 Dean Furman, 7 Benjamin Hardcastle, 8 James Neild, 9 Joe Piggott (15 Scott Bakkor 70m), 10 Momodou Touray, 11 Adama Sidibeh (12 Maieco Braulio, 71m). Unused Subs 14 Benjamin Hough, 16 Chinedu Uche, 17 James Baillie
Referee: Jonathan Chadwick
Cautions: Bird, Dunne, Burns, Moult, Blissett (Stafford) Touray, Braullio (Warrington Rylands)
Att 600
Report by Chris Elsley
Aug 5, 2023
Prices: £7 Adults, £5 Concessions, £3 U16s, Plus £2 Access to the main stand
Jul 29, 2023
Stafford Rangers suffered a 2-0 defeat to Leek Town at Marston Road in their penultimate pre-season game.
Dan Trickett-Smith’s first-minute strike and Tom Carr’s second-half addition was enough to see the away side over the line.
The Rangers will hope to bounce back against local-rivals Hednesford next Saturday before beginning the Northern Premier League season against Lancaster the following week.
Leek showed their quality off the ball throughout, with their fast play and movement off the ball featuring in abundance throughout the first-half. The 2-0 win means that Leek have now hit five without reply against the Rangers in their last two visits as the Blues beat the Boro 3-0 in a Staffordshire Senior Cup quarter-final last season.
Trickett-Smith’s first-minute opener was a fantastic finish – lobbing Cameron Belford in goal from the right side of the box – although the problem will be how he came to be unchallenged and get behind the line easily. The goalscorer looked for a second not long after, but headed straight at Belford in net.
Nathan Blissett tried his luck with an ambitious effort on the turn from afar just after ten minutes played, before Ross Davidson shot wide for Leek after great build up play.
Joe Willis’ rocket off a shot seemed destined for the top left corner but was kept out well for a corner which led to nothing, and great build-up play was seen again from the away side as striker Rob Stevenson shot off-target.
Ethan Stewart headed over from a corner just after the half-hour mark while Tom Tonks headed wide before half-time from Ben Woods’ cross. Prior to that Tom Carr showed his quality on the ball dribbling well, but teammate and striker Stevenson was unable to hit the target with his effort.
In the second 45, Ethan Morgan shot straight at the Leek keeper before Tom Tonks and Joe Willis linked up well earning a corner.
Woods found the goalkeeper’s gloves with his header while Blissett went wide with his effort which was the best opportunity the home side were presented with. Likewise, Kaiman Anderson was unable to cause problems with his header before Joe Willis’ free-kick effort sailed over the goal.
Carr then sealed the away win for Leek with a great strike into the left-side of the goal, and again was allowed to force his way through the defence with his run. Results meaningless still at this stage of the new season, but Matt Hill’s side will hope for a better time against the Pitmen next weekend in their final pre-season fixture.
