Hednesford top after Rangers thriller

Hednesford 5 Stafford Rangers 4

Hednesford went top of the Evo-Stik Northern League after a 96th-minute winner from hat-trick hero Marvin Robinson clinched an unlikely win over Stafford Rangers.

Few would have bet on this scoreline after 20 minutes, when Rangers were 3-0 up and seemingly coasting against their rivals from across the Chase.

Having gone 4-2 ahead with nine minutes left, it again seemed that Rangers had won the bragging rights.

Sean Kinsella gave the visitors the lead straight from a free-kick on just five minutes and the second also came from another of his set-pieces, when Luke George headed back across goal for Mike Douglas to score.

Neville Thompson made it 3-0 on 18 minutes after Kinsella and Dan Skelton exchanged passes, before the latter crossed low for the striker to make it two goals in two games.

When home defender Cheyenne Dunkley nearly sliced into his own net and Kinsella saw a shot hit the bar, it seemed a case of how many would Rangers get.

But the visitors' defence switched off right on half-time to give the Pitmen a lifeline, when Robinson headed in Jamey Osborne's throw.

Hednesford got back in the game 11 minutes from time, when Douglas handled a long ball into the box from substitute Phil Clarke and Chris Clements stepped up to score from the spot.

But, two minutes later, Rangers substitute Chris Budrys appeared to have killed the game off after reacting the quickest to a through ball from Kinsella to push it past goalkeeper Dan Crane.

Another substitute, Hednesford's Bohan Dixon, had other ideas and set up Robinson on 84 minutes to reduce the arrears.

When Danny Quinn headed home a Clements cross just a minute from time, it seemed both teams would settle for a point.

But an overhead kick from Robinson six minutes into injury time which found its way through the legs of debutant Rangers goalkeeper Sam Johnson gave the Pitmen the points.

After the game, Hednesford manager Rob Smith blasted goal hero Robinson – despite his hat-trick downing rivals Stafford.

Robinson won it in the 96th minute but Smith insisted the striker must improve.

He said: "Marvin did well to get a hat-trick but to be honest that is the worst I have seen him play and he will tell you that himself.

"He didn't hold the ball up for us but he got the goals and those were what ultimately won us the game.

"We gifted them free kicks and you can't do that and expect to get away with it, but then I made a lot of changes in the second-half and the team stuck at it.

"But overall we gave away ridiculous free kicks and it is something we will work on in training, because you won't always get away with it."

Rangers assistant manager Dorian Garner blamed atrocious defending for their collapse.

He said: "You will never win games defending like that and the manner in which we conceded the last three goals was poor. There were free headers given away in the area.

"I don't know whether it was a lack of concentration but nobody seemed to take responsibility for it and that's not good enough.

"If we haven't got players who can master basic defending, then we will have to get some in who can."