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24.7.2010

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Next Game

Stafford win 4-2 on aggregate

Mins On

Hednesford relinquished their hold on the Chase Cup this afternoon as deadly rivals Stafford Rangers won an entertaining encounter at Keys Park to settle the tie 4-2 on aggregate

With a number of big names missing again, including Mark Bellingham, Elliott Durrell, Cheyenne Dunkley and Alfie Carter, manager Bernard McNally was forced to field another experimental team; Craig Marshall was picked a lone striker, whilst Scott Fuller celebrated his new deal with another start in defence in place of Dunkley. The visitors included Grant Goodhead in defence, with Hednesford legend Chris Brindley naming himself amongst the Stafford substitutes

Rangers made a bright start, with Ben Mills and Nick Wellecomme carrying on where they left off last week in giving the Hednesford defenders a hard time. Mills forced Dan Crane into a regulation save on three minutes, with the stopper making a good save low to his left

Fuller was at full stretch on five minutes to deny Wellecomme, making a last-ditch tackle to deny the Rangers striker just as he was about to shoot

A quick break from the visitors on nine minutes almost bore fruit, as triallist Tom Moss broke quickly before feeding Mills, who was again denied by Crane, making another smart save

The Pitmen were slow to make their mark on the game, with Dorryl Proffitt first to create an opening for the hosts fourteen minutes in. Playing out wide on the right, he made a darting run down the wing before cutting inside and hitting a swerving shot towards the far corner of the net that was turned away by Stafford keeper Tom Harrison

Crane, who had already made two fine saves, made an even better save on eighteen minutes, brilliantly turning away a Mills effort after another quick break by Rangers had opened up the Hednesford defence. The rebound bounced dangerously in front of a number of incoming players, with Ben Bailey doing well to hack the ball away

On twenty minutes, Mills almost snatched the goal his efforts deserved with a flying header from Moss's ball in, but headed narrowly wide of the post

Triallist Jonathon Watkins, looking to impress in the absence of Bellingham, went closest to grabbing the Pitmen's first goal of pre-season with a shot from an acute angle that hit the side netting

Stafford's pressure and extra fitness finally told ten minutes before the break as Moss opened the scoring. Crane made a superb save to deny Wellecomme, but the ball dropped kindly the the onrushing Moss, who tapped home from close range

The Pitmen responded quickly with Chris Clements showing nice skills to beat two players and rifle in a shot from long range that beat the right hand post by two yards

Two minutes later, and the contest looked pretty much over as Rangers moved further into the lead. A simple punt over the top found the Hednesford defence wanting, allowing Mills to dart through and finish with aplomb from the edge of the area

The topsy-turvy first half took another twist three minutes before the break, as Marshall was bundled over at the near post following Dave Bridgwater's corner kick;  the referee Alan Sheffield awarding the Pitmen a penalty for the shove, with Bridgwater calmly rolling the ball home to Harrison's left to reduce arrears

Half time saw McNally make a change to his defence, with Louis Keenan making way for Aaron Gibson at left back as he looked to add pace to his left hand side

Stafford started the second half with purpose, forcing the Pitmen onto the back foot again as they won a number of corner kicks. The giant Craig McAughtrie got his head to one such ball in, heading just wide of goal on forty eight minutes

Marshall's game came to an end on fifty three minutes, as he was replaced by youngster Jamey Osbourne. This saw Watkins move forward into a more advanced role in Marshall's absence

 The triallist very nearly made his mark as a lone striker just a minute later, getting on the end of Bridgwater's corner kick but headed wide of the far post

Hednesford were enjoying arguably their best spell of the game, and on fifty nine minutes they grabbed an equaliser, courtesy of the impressive Clements. After taking down Jay Denny's ball brilliantly to the left of the penalty area, Clements set himself before beating McAughtrie and curling the ball brilliantly past Harrison and into the far corner of the net

Alas, the brief hope that Hednesford had of getting the tie back onto level terms were dashed six minutes later. A Stafford corner found Jermaine Johnson's head, with the defender heading firmly past Crane from close range

Watkins was replaced by Josh Craddock almost immediately after the goal, with the young midfielder playing in a more advanced role than his usual defensive midfield role. Proffitt became the Pitmen's third lone forward of the afternoon, moving inside from the right

Osbourne, who had showed a number of good touches since coming on, went close to leveling the game once more with a mazy run and shot  from the right flank that Harrison  turned away for a corner kick. From the resultant kick. Fuller's firm downward header was cleared off the line by Stafford left back Jon Patrick

Craddock enjoyed his brief cameo with a number of crunching tackles for the Pitmen, and one shot from long range that was well saved by Harrison, at full stretch to his right

Rangers hung on to claim the second Chase Cup by a 4-2 aggregate, with the Pitmen having no arguments about the overall result. McNally's side will be pleased with much of their performance against a higher league side, but a lack of firepower without Bellingham will have been noted by many at Keys Park. With three games left in pre-season, there is plenty of opportunity to iron out the issues  cds

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Gibson

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1

   Osbourne

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1

  Craddock

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17

Watkins

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Keenan

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