Coleshill Town 2 v 1 Stafford Rangers - FA Cup

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 29th August 2015
Emirates FA Cup - Preliminary Round
Coleshill Town 2 v 1 Stafford Rangers
Played at Stafford
Scorers:
Town: Own Goal, Rob Evans.
Rangers: Ben Haseley.

Teams:
Town: Paul Hathaway, Leon Weller, Will Worthington, Rob Evans, Luke Edwards, Brendan Murphy, Tom Weale, Dean Rathbone, Demitrius Smikle (Simeon Cobourne), Danico Johnson (Chris Hughes), Chris Cowley (Luke Barlone). Subs not used Giovanni Dainty, Ricky Cutting, Josh Nash, Dominic Cutter.

Rangers: Adam Whitehouse, Sam Griffiths, Mathew Wood, Jermaine Johnson, Leon Miles, Josh Craddock, Alex Melbourne, Nathan Rooney, Christian Dacres, Ben Haseley. Peter Till. Subs Levi Reid, Nick Wellecomme, Jonathan Kapend, Wayne Daniel, Stewart McNaught, Alex Curtis.

SUNDAY MERCURY WROTE
Town Stun Rangers In Cup Shock Of The Day
Coleshill Town provided one of the shock results of the FA Cup by knocking out high flying Stafford Rangers with a 2-1 victory. An own goal from Sam Griffiths and a Rob Evans strike gave the Colemen their second shock win in a week after beating Hereford 5-4 on Tuesday night. The outcome could have been different when the unbeaten Rangers took the lead after two minutes after Ben Haseley latched on to a back-pass before rounding the goalkeeper and putting the ball into an empty net. But Paul Casey's side challenged the young Rangers defenders and got their reward on the 12th minute when a long ball over the top saw Griffiths loop the ball over his own goalkeeper for the equaliser. Despite looking second best for most of the first half Coleshill capitalised on Adam Whitehouse's missed punch and Evans tapped into an empty net for the winner as they killed the game off.

THE NON-LEAGUE PAPER WROTE
Rangers Stunned By Coles Comeback
Coleshill fought back from falling behind to a second minute goal to pull off a shock win against their higher league opponents. The visitors took the lead when Ben Haseley intercepted a Rob Evans back header to slot home, before Sam Griffiths inexplicably lobbed his own goalkeeper just ten minutes later from 30 yards out to see Coleshill back on level terms. Rangers went close on three separate occasions, before Coleshill took the lead in the 44th minute when Rob Evans fired in after Rangers failed to clear their lines from a free-kick. The second half saw both teams create chances, but while Stafford saw their finishing touch desert them, Coleshill held out for a deserved win.

MATCH REPORT
Coleshill reached the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup for the second year running with this tremendous win over Stafford Rangers. Last season Town finished the competitions highest scorers with 16, more than the two finalists Aston Villa (11 ) and Arsenal (15), and have already scored 13 in their two games so far. The Colemen then went out to Barwell last season, the last time they progressed further than the First Qualifying Round was in 2010/11 when they got as far as the 3rd Qualifying Round before losing to Nuneaton Town.

Coleshill played the game at Stafford due to work going on at Pack Meadow and what a proper non-league ground it is. The pitch was immaculate and the healthy crowd of 358 made for a great atmosphere. When you play a team from a higher league you need to be on your game from the start and make few mistakes but Town gifted Rangers the lead with just two minutes on the clock. Rob Evans headed back to his keeper Paul Hathaway and Ben Haseley nipped in between them to shoot into the net at the second attempt as he almost fluffed the gift. Chris Cowley had the Rangers keeper Adam Whitehouse at full stretch from a free kick before Town were level on 12 minutes. Demitrius Smikle chased a long ball from Leon Weller and put defender Sam Griffiths under pressure but the ground was stunned as Griffiths lobbed his keeper from fully 30 yards to return the favour of a gift of a goal. It was an end to end game with both attacks looking threatening and both defences looking shaky. Alex Melbourne crossed for the unmarked Christian Dacres who headed over the bar from a great position. Rangers were now having their best period and Rob Evans, Luke Edwards and Will Worthington all threw themselves in front of goal bound efforts to keep the scores level. Haseley got to another back pass first but shot wide, Worthington cleared off the line from Dacres all before Town took the lead a minute before the break. Keeper Whitehouse came for Dean Rathbone free kick but the ball fell kindly for Evans who reverse kicked into the net.

Coleshill started the second half brightly. Rathbone's shot was blocked and Chris Cowley shot just wide of the post. Rangers were relying heavily on the heading ability of Christian Dacres but Luke Edwards was starting to get the better of the contest and when Dacres was allowed time his aim was well off target. Tom Weale had a free kick flash past the post, then Evans headed over his own bar a dangerous free kick by Melbourne. Substitute Simeon Cobourne went down in the box but a penalty would have been harsh. Chris Hughes shot over from a great position and then got to the bye line and his cross was heading for the unmarked Cobourne but Whitehouse got a fingertip to the ball at full stretch. In the last minute Edwards hauled down substitute Wayne Daniels and was lucky to see just a yellow card.

Coleshill were lucky to be 2-1 up at the break but looked comfortable in the second half and were rarely under pressure by a disappointing Stafford Rangers.