Stafford 0 Torquay 2
No points, no goals, but a lot of pointers that things will start to get better for Stafford Rangers.
No points, no goals, but a lot of pointers that things will start to get better for Stafford Rangers.
That was the verdict on Steve Bull's third home game in charge, against one of the Blue Square Premier's leading lights.
No-one expected Rangers to get anything from the game – in fact some feared they might at the wrong end of an embarrassing scoreline.
Yet in the end, Rangers were within a whisker of pulling off an unlikely draw.
And what a feather in the cap that would have been for Bull against a club whose football director is Colin Lee, one of his former managers at Molineux.
Bull and the rest of his squad will want to watch video re-runs of the 'penalty' incident three minutes from time, when midfielder Sami Mawene was sent tumbling in the box by Chris Todd.
No penalty, said the referee, much to Mawene's disgust, earning himself a yellow card for his frustrated protest. Todd was also booked for his part in the argy-bargy that followed the incident.
But things didn't rest there as far as Rangers were concerned. What a debut it would have been for striker Nick Wellecomme, if his goalbound 89th minute shot had not been tipped away by Simon Rayner's wonderful one-handed save.
Of course, Torquay had to go and spoil things for the Marston Road fans by seizing on a mistake by Jim Sangare in injury time that led to Roscoe D'Sane netting the killer second goal.
Bull's game plan went out the window early on when Neil Grayson had to leave with a back injury.
Player for player, Torquay were a class above Rangers, but all they had to show for nearly 90 minutes was a solitary goal from Tim Sills, headed in from a 47th minute corner as Rangers prepared to face the gale blowing into their faces.
Wellecomme's overhead kick also went close as Rangers took plenty more positives than negatives out of the game.
Rangers: Alcock, Sutton, Daniel, Sangare, Gibson, Flynn, Street, Hazley (Mawene 74), Hopkinson (Draper 63), Grayson (Adaggio 16), Wellecomme.
Subs not used: Allen, Reid.
Attendance: 905.
