Festive period kicks off

With all of our side’s itching to play after postponements, the festive period kicks off with a Boxing Day feast.

Stoke City travel to managerless Blackburn Rovers in search of a win to leapfrog the Lancashire outfit.

In League Two, Port Vale have a home tie against strugglers Lincoln City and Burton Albion travel to an in-form Northampton side.

In the Blue Square North, Stafford Rangers have a home match against Telford AFC.

The Evo Stik First Division South will play their matches on December 27 where Leek Town host their match with Belper (34 days since they last kicked a ball) and Newcastle host a derby clash with Kidsgrove Athletic.

North Staffs Football will keep you informed of any postponements, but let us know your score predictions from our games.

Weekend round-up as non-league side’s freeze

The weekend’s cold snap, with below-freezing temperatures and snow for some caused havoc for Saturday football matches.

Officials across the county have had to call a number of games off due to frozen pitches as temperatures as low as minus 7C hit Staffordshire.

In the Evo-Stik First Division South, Leek Town‘s charity match against Glapwell was postponed as freezing weather in Mansfield left officials with no choice but to call the game off.

Cold snap puts a freeze on matches

Stafford Rangers ‘s match at Harrogate Town also fell foul to the weather and was cancelled following a pitch inspection at 8.30am on Saturday (November 27) morning due to a frozen pitch.

 

Newcastle Town‘s trip to Belper Town was cancelled after a 9.00am pitch inspection due to a frozen pitch – in which Belper’s ground was under four inches of snow.

Kidsgrove Athletic‘s match at Shepshed Dynamo was also ruled out after a 10.30am pitch inspection.

Stoke City kept their game on against Manchester City and salvaged a point at the Britannia Stadium thanks to Matthew Etherington’s injury-time goal.

After a goalless first-half the visitors looked to have nicked all three points through Micah Richards’s superb strike, but Etherington latched onto Tuncay Sanli’s back-heel to smash the ball into the net.

In League Two there was better news for Crewe fans who made the trip to Lancashire-outfit Morecambe.

Clayton Donaldson fired Alex into an early lead four minutes in, and Byron Moore doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time.

Morecambe halved the deficit through Chris Shuker but plaudits go to Alex stopper Rhys Taylor who saved Phil Jevons’s penalty to give Dario Gradi’s men all three points.

Burton Albion progressed to the lucrative third-round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win at the Pirelli against Chesterfield.

Aaron Webster and Jacques Maghoma sent the Brewers into a 2-0 lead at half-time, but Chesterfield made it a nervy end after Jordan Bowery’s late strike.

The match was sealed though as James Collins broke past the visitors defence and curled the ball around the Spireites keeper.

Port Vale were in action on Friday night (November 26) but they scraped into the third-round as well with a 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley, thanks to Justin Richards’s first-half strike.

Did you go to any of the games? Let North Staffs Football know what you think and listen to our weekend report below:
http://www.onmvoice.com/player/player.swf?a=34905&ap=0&color=default

Curzon Ashton Football Club, who play in the Evo-Stik Premier Division have their own way of combating the freezing conditions:

Stafford Rangers drop to bottom two after Hinckley defeat

Stafford Rangers manager Tim Flowers bemoaned his side’s failure to finish as they lost 3-1 to Hinckley United at Marston Road, writes Lewis Davies

Jamie Reid fired Hinckley ahead, hitting a fine strike into the top-left corner before Ben Mills equalised with a soft penalty just before half-time.

An own-goal from Seb Harris put Hinckley ahead again after Reid’s dangerous free-kick caused mayhem in the box.

Substitute Danny Newton’s strike put the game to bed for the away side but Flowers rued many missed opportunities.

Stafford Rangers/ Hinckley United

He said: “I don’t know how many chances we’ve carved out this season but I think we had enough to win three games today.

“It’s easy to sit here and say we were the better side but I think we were. Their goalkeeper was their best player, which tells a story.”

American defender Harris suffered a nightmare game having scored the own goal and being at fault for Hinckley’s third but also wasted good efforts at the other end.

With a team consisting largely of youngsters, Flowers believes his side need to adapt and learn from their errors quickly.

He added: “Obviously it’s an own-goal which is just one of those things that happens but an under-hit back-pass was punished and you get punished brutally at any level. They (Hinckley) have rode their luck and that irritates me.

“There’s a reason why the likes of Oldham and Northampton use us as a vehicle to get these kids experience so they can make their mistakes here.

“I’m not going to beat people up too badly because you can’t fault effort but the second and the third goal just wasn’t good enough.”

Stafford’s second-highest scorer Tyree Clarke as well as regular centre-back Mark Dudley missed out on Saturday due to injuries and should be back for the next league game against Vauxhall Motors.

However, Flowers said he will continue bringing in players to add to Harris, Liam and Rod McDonald and decent debutant Martin Naylor before that game comes around.

He said: “Our scoring record tells a story. We can’t score a goal but I’ll be looking at all avenues.

“I’m not looking to make wholesale changes because I haven’t got the money. I’m no Paul Daniels, we’re not going to get anything better than what we have for £100.

“My job is to improve the quality of this football club and team and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Stafford Rangers desperate for goals

Tim Flowers will be looking for his first win as Stafford Rangers manager on Saturday (Nov 13) when they take on fellow strugglers Hinckley United, writes Lewis Davies

Rangers haven’t played a game for a fortnight when they drew 1-1 with Solihull Moors, and haven’t won a match under the former-England goalkeepers charge.

Their result to Solihull ended a streak of four consecutive defeats in all competitions as the side look to build.

The encounter will be only Flowers’ second home game since arriving at Marston Road last month and since his appointment he has made numerous changes.

Marston Road

Using the contacts gained during his spell as goalkeeping coach at Northampton Town he has signed American forward-come-defender Seb Harris on-loan to bolster a team which has scored just nine goals all season.

The versatile Harris should make his home debut and Flowers will be looking for more goals from several other positions as only three players in his squad have contributed to that nine-goal tally.

Top scorer Chris Sterling, with five goals to his name, will be seen as the home side’s key player and the same goes for ex-Norwich City midfielder Tyree Clarke who has netted three times.

Both will be pushing for starts against Hinckley and 18-year-old Clarke in particular will be vying for a regular first-team spot, having scored most of his goals as a substitute.

Rangers will be seeking revenge over their Leicestershire opponents after they suffered a 4-0 mauling in the side’s last encounter.

Despite inflicting Rangers’ biggest loss of the season in that game, Flowers’s men are now level on points with their opponents with two or even three games in hand over some of their fellow Blue Square North competitors.

It could be too early to call this a six-pointer but with Rangers hanging joint-second bottom and precariously over the relegation zone a win will certainly ease things for the manager.

North Staffs Football predicts a 2-1 Stafford Rangers win.

Let us know your thoughts on new boss Tim Flowers and your score predictions for the weekend.