Stafford Rangers 2
Nantwich Town 0
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Stafford Rangers 2-0 Nantwich Town
Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division – Saturday 27th April 2013
A fine strike by Sean Kinsella and a Jimmy Turner diving header gave Walsall Senior Cup finalists Stafford Rangers the best of an otherwise even game at Marston Road.
The match felt like a friendly at times with little more than bragging rights to gain but the three points lift Rangers above Nantwich Town in to 14th in the Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division.
On 14 minutes Nantwich defender Charlie Raglan scuffed an attempted clearance to Rangers’ midfielder Kinsella who found the sweet spot perfectly driving past Jon Brain from the edge of the Dabbers’ area to the delight of the home fans.
Rangers fans’ favourite Turner made it two-nil with a thunderous diving header on 67 minutes from a corner an apparently offside Danny Quinn had won.
Dabbers’ forward Kyle Wilson showed confidence shooting from distance after a minute but was easily thwarted by Rangers’ ‘keeper Adam Alcock.
Kinsella gave a glimpse of things to come as he fired over on 5 minutes.
There were optimistic appeals for a Rangers penalty on 11 minutes as Raglan challenged Jon Sheldon in the area.
Ex-Dabber Chris Flynn seemed to handle in his penalty area from a Joe Guest flick on 25 minutes but the referee waved the Nantwich protests away gesturing to his head.
Caretaker player-manager Darren Moss sent his side out early for the second half and they looked motivated to turn things around.
Nantwich forward Tom Bentham, returning from a bad back, had the ball in the net on 50 minutes but the assistant referee had already flagged for offside.
Aaron Cole gave a freekick away to Stafford to the right of Brain’s area on 59 minutes and received a yellow card but the set piece was wasted and easily cleared.
PJ Hudson shot wide of Alcock’s goal on 75 minutes and Guest could only find the redundant goalkeeper’s hands with a freekick in the 79th.
The Dabbers never really showed signs of a comeback and the game’s slow tempo continued to Stafford’s advantage until the final whistle.
Nantwich drop two places to 16th with two games to play away to Buxton on Wednesday night and home to Blyth Spartans on Saturday afternoon.
Nantwich: Brain, Cole, Bailey (Bentham 23), Hughes, Raglan (c), Dicker, Guest, Maguire, Wilson, Clayton (Lane 73), Hudson. Subs: Foster, Moss, Devenney.
Stafford: Alcock, Turner (Walshe 80), Brown, Flynn (c), George, Smith, Bottomer, Heler, Quinn, Kinsella Curtis 81), Sheldon (Davies 75). Subs: Dacres, Wood

Match report written by Robert Summerscales