Stafford Rangers 5 Atherton Colleries 0 - Report

The Rangers had won just one of their last six previous Northern One West games entering the clash with Atherton who have experienced a troubled start so far this season.

However, the Rangers were clinical on this occasion netting five times, without conceding, as Jon Atherton, Kaiman Anderson and Dan Cockerline put on a show at the Stan Robinson Stadium.

Belford, who took over following Dave Cooke’s resignation in late-September and is seeking to lead the Boro up the standings, couldn’t have asked for much more.

“I’m pleased for everyone at the club, the fans were magnificent,” said Belford. “They’ve backed the lads in the last four games and things haven’t gone as planned, but they can see the effort that the lads have put in.

“I think today we got the rewards for that.

“All the lads have done magnificently. If we can just keep moving that direction in terms of the work ethic and the effort then hopefully the fans will come through the turnstiles.

“Hopefully we can keep going in the right direction, it’s not going to be easy. We have to keep moving forward.

“We’ve got good energy and goals in the side, we can see that.

“There’s going to be a few bumps in the road, it’s not always going to go well, but we need to stick together as a club.

“Performances like that help, but it’s only one.”

After a promising start, the Rangers were thankful for Cameron Belford who kept the scores level, tipping over Callen Gallagher’s header from close-range.

And, Stafford took advantage of Belford’s heroics, going on to score twice inside two-minutes.

Jon Atherton netted in consecutive matches to earn the lead, turning home from Dan Cockerline’s flick-on before the Rangers were resurgent from the kick-off and found a second in quick succession.

Heavily involved again, Cockerline’s purposeful run provided a scrap for the ball inside the box that fell kindly for Kaiman Anderson to convert for his first goal since re-joining the club.

The Rangers were then relieved shortly before half-time when Lewis Rawsthorn was unable to capitalise on Andy Burns’ misplaced pass at the back. It was nearly a nightmare moment for the Boro defender who was playing his 500th career match.

After the break, Jon Atherton claimed his second - through another simple finish - and the Rangers’ third to put the game out of sight. The winger found himself in the right place at the right time to fire home after Scott Wara’s header was blocked on the line.

And, to complete the Rangers’ delight, Cockerline turned his man superbly inside the box before firing low into the bottom-left corner, while strike-partner Kaiman Anderson was a menace to add his second at close-range, five-minutes from time.