Forest Green Rovers 1 Stafford Rangers 2
Blue Square Premier at The New Lawn
Attendance: 1093
Goals from caretaker managers Neil Grayson and Kevin Street fired Stafford Rangers to a second successive victory in the Blue Square Premier.
Grayson took full advantage of a defensive error to give Rangers a 12th-minute lead and Street fired home the winner midway through the second half. Former Stafford midfielder Michael Brough had levelled things up in the 35th minute.
Just like they did for the abandoned game at Histon, Grayson and Street named an unchanged side, keeping faith with the line-up that started the win over Weymouth last Saturday. Nathan Smith and Matt Hazley returned to the bench from injury but David McNiven was missing after being loaned to Farsley Celtic.
Rangers decided to attack the covered home end in the first half forcing Forest Green to defend into the low sun.
The home side got the game under way and Adriano Rigoglioso sent an early volley wide of the target.
Street tried his luck from well outside the area and his effort drifted wide of the right-hand post.
A deep cross from Alex Gibson was headed out at the far post by Chris Giles for Rangers’ first corner in around three hours of football [the previous one was in the 79th minute of the Tamworth FA Trophy replay].
The corner was cleared but Rangers will soon celebrating a goal in the 12th minute. Ryan Robinson sliced a clearance from Anthony Tonkin’s backpass straight to unmarked Grayson who sent a right-foot volley straight into an unguarded net.
Rovers immediately put Rangers under pressure by winning a corner themselves.
Gibson played a free-kick forward into the home area and Grayson got in a back header which Robinson held.
Danny Alcock, named Star Man by both the Non-League Paper and Non-League Today, pulled off an outstanding save in the 21st minute. Rigoglioso hammered a goalbound shot from 12 yards out and the Stafford keeper dived to his right to keep the ball out with a one-handed save. The danger was cleared at the expense of a corner from which Brough headed wide.
Seb Arnolin saw an effort blocked by Jamie Pitman before Marco Adaggio replaced the injured Dolapo Oloaye in the 31st minute.
The home side started to really threaten and Wayne Daniel got in the way of a 25-yard shot from Rigoglioso. But Rangers were out of luck in the 35th minute when Brough, who made one Rangers appearance a few seasons ago, fired into the top left corner from the edge of the area.
Rigoglioso quickly got forward in search of another goal for his side and his 12-yard shot was saved by Alcock.
With Stafford needing to work hard at the back, Adaggio relieved a bit of pressure by taking the ball forward to the end of the Rovers area but curled a shot wide. The striker also volleyed over the bar.
As the interval approached, Grayson met Chris Flynn’s cross and headed wide. Rangers had to survive four corners in quick succession during three minutes of first-half stoppage time.
Soon after the restart, Rigoglioso turned inside the area and hit a low shot which Alcock got down to hold.
Forest Green made their first change in the 50th minute when Les Afful replaced Jamie Pitman.
Arnolin got into a good position and drove across the face of the home goal. Another effort from Damion Jarrett took a deflection and went out for a corner. With Rangers keeping up the attack, Jarrett forced a fine block out of Robinson. Grayson pounced on the loose ball only to be flagged offside.
Richie Sutton went into the book for a foul of Rigoglioso and both players were soon replaced with Djoumin Sangare coming on for Rangers.
On the hour, a long-range shot from Grayson bounced awkwardly inside the area and Robinson failed to hold. However, the keeper claimed at the second attempt as Adaggio closed in.
Rangers were eventually rewarded for their efforts, scoring what proved to be the winner in the 67th minute. Street rifled a low shot into the bottom left corner from just outside the area. Hopkinson almost made it three when his shot rebounded off Robinson’s knee. Adaggio also fired wide.
With the home crowd starting to get a bit restless with their team’s performance, John Hardiker was booked for a foul on Adaggio. Grayson’s name also entered the referee’s notebook for persistent fouling. The referee became card happy in what was a good natured contest by adding the names of Sangare (85th), Hopkinson (90th) and Matt Hazley (90th) before the end.
Welsh cut into the area from the left and fired a low shot which Alcock superbly blocked. In the 85th minute, following a foul by Sangare on Brough 25 yards out, Alex Lawless fired the resulting free-kick against the right-hand post.
Further changes saw Forest Green replace substitute Lee Dodgson with Mark Preece and Matt Hazley come on for Damion Jarrett.
Four minutes of stoppage time was indicated by the fourth official, during which Adaggio get his head to a long ball down the middle that Robinson rushed off his line to hold.
Boos were heard at The New Lawn as Rangers celebrated their first ever points against Forest Green after three previous league defeats.
Teams
Forest Green Rovers (black and white stripes/black/black): 1. Ryan Robinson, 4. Darren Jones, 5. Chris Giles, 11. John Hardiker, 3, Anthony Tonkin, 2. Alex Lawless, 10. Michael Brough (capt), 6. Jamie Pitman, 16. Ishmael Welsh, 9. Adriano Rigoglioso, 14, Stuart Fleetwood. Subs: 17. Les Afful (for Pitman, 50), 22. Lee Dodgson (for Rigoglioso, 58), 12. Mark Preece (for Dodgson, 84), 20. Jonathan Smith, 23, Danny Carey-Bertram
Stafford Rangers (all red): 1. Danny Alcock, 38. Alex Gibson, 5. Wayne Daniel (capt), 2. Richie Sutton, 7. Chris Flynn, 35. Damion Jarrett, 8. Kevin Street, 19. Seb Arnolin, 24. Steve Hopkinson, 11. Dolapo Olaoye, 9. Neil Grayson. Subs: 6. 20. Marco Adaggio (for Olaoye, 31), Djoumin Sangare (for Sutton, 59), 37. Matt Hazley (for Jarrett, 86), 15. Nathan Smith, 16. Tom Ingram
Referee: Steve Cummins (Cheshire)
Attendance: 1093 (inc 76 away fans)
This match report was originally written for and published on the now defunct www.staffordrangers.co.uk
