Halesowen 3 Stafford 4
A second-half error from Halesowen goalkeeper Nathan Vaughan gifted Stafford victory in a thrilling match that should have been over long before at the Grove.
A second-half error from Halesowen goalkeeper Nathan Vaughan gifted Stafford victory in a thrilling match that should have been over long before at the Grove.
Stafford had raced into a 3-1 lead after just 32 minutes yet somehow managed to go in at the break level, with Alex Gibson's goal in the second half ensuring that Rangers' did notch their first win of pre-season.
Defensive duo Stuart Pierpoint and Nick Amos were making a swift return to the Grove, after their switch from Halesowen to Marston Road over the summer, enduring a torrid first-half.
They were caught out as early as the 11th minute, when Halesowen's leading scorer last season, Dean Brennan, put the home side ahead from close range.
Halesowen's new defence crumbled shortly after, cruelly exposed as Rangers then hit three goals in 12 minutes.
They were stood still in the 20th minute, as David McNiven met Pierpoint's punt into the area and his shot trickled past keeper Nathan Vaughan.
Static defending from Gibson's 26th-minute corner cost them again, allowing Pierpoint to head back for Nick Wellecome to nod in from close range.
The home defence was found wanting again in the 32nd minute, when Bobby Wilson headed through Vaughan's hands from another corner.
Then back came the home side in some style. Alex Cowley sprayed a long ball for Mark Danks to put Halesowen back in the game, with a fine half-volley beyond goalkeeper Danny Alcock in the 40th minute.
The impressive Danks then got the equaliser three minutes later , with a spectacular scissor-kick from the edge of the area.
After Danks headed just over the bar in the second-half, before Rangers snatched the winner on the hour, Gibson's floating cross sailed into the net after
the unconvincing Vaughan flapped and tangled with his own defender Dean Smith, under pressure from sub Linden Dovey.
Halesowen substitute Jermaine Palmer struck the crossbar in the closing stages, as the home side threatened an equlaiser.
Rangers: Alcock; Gibson, Hines, Pierpoint, Daniel, Amos, Wilson, C. Palmer, Wellecome, McNiven, McPherson.
Subs: Dovey, McMahon, Ingram, Loukes, Francis, Allan.
Referee: A. Hendley.
Attendance: 256.
