Stafford Rangers 4 Hednesford Town 1 - Report and pictures
An emphatic derby win for Stafford Rangers saw them take the bragging rights over neighbours Hednesford and, more importantly, ease their way up the table.
And boss Steve Burr was delighted how his players handled not only the pressure of a derby clash but also the cold and wet conditions.
The Rangers manager said: “It was a big day for the club and the players rose to the occasion in difficult conditions.
“I was pleased with the way that we pressed Hednesford who are a good side at the back but we did what we needed to do and didn’t allow them to create too many chances at our end.
“It’s a good result but we have important games coming up over the Christmas period and need to continue this form.”
Stafford dominated the first few minutes, with good passing and constant pressure, and it paid off when an Andrai Jones shot from the right was well saved by Josef Bursik only for the loose ball to fall to Jake Charles who, from six yards out, acrobatically stuck a leg out to send the ball into the net much to the delight of those behind the goal in the re-opened Shed End.
Boro continued to press from the restart but were undone moments later when they lost possession and the ball was swiftly moved forward to Hendsford’s Michael Howard who beat the last two defenders before dinking an effort over George Sykes-Kenworthy from around 12 yards to ensure it was all square after just five minutes.
The blistering early pace continued as Joe Cuff hit the post after ten minutes when he made a jinking run into the box from the left and his crisp shot rattled the woodwork.
Both sides continued to spread the ball around, Dan Cockerline spurning a half-chance for the visitors on the half hour when played in from midfield but when Cuff was presented with a similar chance five minutes before the interval he made no mistake, firing the ball past Bursik to give Boro the lead at the break.
Burr was forced into a change at the start of the second half with Jack Sherratt replacing Jones. and the slight change of formation seemed to work in the home side’s favour as they extended their lead on 57 minutes when Charles was allowed too much space after good work from a corner and he fired in to make it 3-1.
The striker wrapped up his hat-trick ten minutes later with another calm finish. A well-worked corner fell to Charles and he made no mistake to end any slim chance of a Hednesford fightback.
