Stafford Rangers 2 Lancaster City 1: ​City unable to conjure up equaliser at Rangers

Buoyed by last week’s win over FC United of Manchester and the signing of Rudy Missambo, Lancaster arrived with positivity.

The Dolly Blues survived an early scare when a game of pinball in the box forced Sam Waller into a low reaction save.

At the other end, David Norris latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the area but dragged his effort wide.

Nathan Woodthorpe then looped a header agonisingly past the post from a set-piece.

Lancaster looked calm in their defensive shape but were unsettled at set pieces and Stafford took the lead when Rangers’ top scorer Anderson rose at a corner to head home.

The hosts soon made it 2-0 from the penalty spot when Woodthorpe was adjudged to have fouled his man, Tonks made no mistake as goalkeeper Sam Waller went the other way.

However, Lancaster had Stafford pegged back in identical fashion as Belford dropped a corner into dangerous territory from which a penalty was won. Belford nearly made amends in getting a hands on Sam Bailey’s effort, but it had too much power for him to stop.

After the break, boss Mark Fell substituted Matthew Tweedley and Christian Sloan for Charlie Bailey and Dom Lawson, perhaps looking to help the ball stick further up the field.

Lawson’s hold up play and rapport with Nic Evangelinos was starting to do the trick, but Lawson was forced off not long after as an ominous limp got worse.

At the other end, Stafford were looking for more direct situations, but the defensive trio of Woodthorpe, Misambo and Pawel Zuk kept them commendably under control.

Both Sam and Charlie Bailey were heavily involved in Lancaster’s subsequent best attack, with the latter feinting and firing an effort which deflected into his brother’s path, but he volleyed the loose ball high.

Unfortunately, City – despite their probing – were unable to conjure up and equaliser as they slipped to defeat.