Nantwich 2 Stafford Rangers 1 - Report
Stafford Rangers suffered a second Northern Premier loss in three days as they went down 2-1 in their penultimate league clash at Nantwich Town.
The defeat in Cheshire rounded off a disappointing Easter weekend for Rangers, having also been beaten by relegation-threatened Basford United on Saturday.
With little more than pride for either side to play for it was the visitors that almost took the lead on six minutes. Jake Charles’ powerful header drew a sharp save from Town keeper Matty Gould.
Instead it was the hosts who drew first blood on 12 minutes when they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Akiel Raffie. Sean Cooke fired the spot-kick straight down the middle beyond Mateusz Hewelt.
Town’s lead lasted just 10 minutes before Rangers levelled through Michael Tait-Moran’s close-range finish after good build-up play from Charles.
The action continued to flow from one end to the other but it was Nantwich that looked the more likely scorers with Joel Stair and Kole Hall both going close. The hosts were finally rewarded on the stroke of half-time through Hall’s neat back post finish.
Rangers cranked up the pressure after the break but found themselves thwarted by the brilliance of Gould. The Kiwi keeper clawed away Alex Fletcher’s header before denying Jed Abbey.
Rangers were given a reprieve when Hall’s lob cleared Hewelt and struck the post before Fletcher flashed a late chance to equalise narrowly wide.
