Matt Hill grateful after Stafford Rangers' latest cup success

Rangers lifted the trophy for the third time in a row as they came back from behind to beat a valiant Stone Old Alleynians side 3-1 at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium.

After finishing eighth in the Northern Premier, ex-Wolves defender Hill is delighted to have wrapped up 2021/22 with a bit of silverware.

"During the season you're never satisfied, but at the end of it, on reflection, we're happy," said Hill.

"From where we started, we recruited and found the right people.

"We want good players, but we want good people, and they've all been that.

"I'm eternally grateful for their efforts this season, and this just caps it off.

"I believe, and I'm sure fans and everyone else believes that it's a well-deserved finish.

"There's no better way – it doesn't matter what level you're at. To win a final is a special moment."

Stone, of the Midland Premier, took a surprise lead through player-manager Luke Askey on Wednesday night but Rangers' class eventually shone through.

Star man Tom Tonks levelled before the break before Kaiman Anderson's second-half double.

"You're always mindful of the what-ifs, because Stone are in the final for a reason," added Hill.

"They beat Hednesford Town and Leek Town – two very good teams – on the way, so we knew it'd be a difficult game.

"We give full credit to them. They're a good team, and in a one-off game, you know it's dangerous.

"We didn't start as well as we wanted to, but we didn't panic.

"It was just the matter of if we could get that quality in the final third, to take our chance.

"Tom has done that for us all season. That first goal gave us our momentum back and then as a striker, Kaiman got a couple of poacher's goals. They were true striker's goals, so it was nice to see those.

"Getting that third goal was a small relief, and when that final whistle went, we could finally relax."

Stone player-boss Askey, meanwhile, hopes they can build on their first-ever Senior Cup final appearance.

"I thought we started quite well, and the effort goes without saying," he said.

"It's a shame we conceded just before half-time. It's maybe not a nice thing to say, but I thought we could have played better.

"A few of our lads probably didn't do themselves justice, and Stafford ended up being too strong for us.

"We've worked on scoring headers as a big side, so that was really good, but Stafford broke us down.

"It's great to get here as it's the first time in the club's history. Hopefully, it's more of the same over the next few years and we can start challenging over the 90 minutes instead of coming just short."

Askey added: "It's been really good progress for the club over the last few years.

"We've come from not many people hearing of us – even people in Stone not knowing about us.

"We've shown ourselves not quite as well as I would've hoped, but it was a great day out for the club."