Dark skies and the threat of rain were on the cards as Staveley from down Chesterfield way come visiting Winterton. Some of the gloom might have come from the draw with the much changed Hall Road on Wednesday night.

With Jamie Barnwell and Andy Holt both unavailable, Billy Walmsley and Dave Ricardo paired into the central midfield roles. Danny Clarke joined Northen up front, but the real surprise was ex- Hall Road Rangers Manager Matty Edeson settle onto the bench as a Rangers sub.

As the players ran out to U2s ‘Beautiful Day’ the heavens opened and washed away any chance of any silky football. Rangers won five corners in as many minutes, but the delivery was poor and the pressure wasted. In fact the most notable thing in the first twenty minutes was a kick in the head for Rangers centre half James Atkinson, that saw him return to the pitch swathed in bandages before feeling unwell and taking a visit to casualty.

 It took 23mins for anyone to create a real goal scoring opportunity, and that was a Staveley attack that saw a cross from the right finds Lee Naughton free at the back stick, but his first time shot was brilliantly palmed away by Ben Simpson.

Rangers were a further ten minutes before they found Danny Clarke on the edge of the box. His cross shot was excellently tipped over at full stretch. 33mins. Winterton were spending most of the time in the Staveley half. Three minutes later Andy Catton crossed for Walmsley to head straight at the Staveley keeper when free.

Five minutes from the break, the deadlock was broken. Rangers continued to press the Staveley box, winning a corner. But the dead ball didn’t clear the near post and was cleared to Naughton who raced to the other end and won a corner. Winterton seemed to freeze as the cross into the centre was met by Naughton with a free header and it was 0-1. 40mins.

HALF-TIME 0-1

With Atkinson not coming out for the second half. Matty Edeson made his debut up front. Clarke dropped into midfield and Walmsley dropped into centre half.

Within a minute of the restart Mark Whitehouse nearly levelled the scores when he came inside to lob the ball over the keeper and unfortunately the far post. 46mins. Two minutes later, a Haywood free kick into the box was cleared to Ricardo who lobbed it back in where Northen beat keeper Joel Armstong to the ball but as he landed he lost track of the ball and Armstong retrieved it.

With nearly all the pressure being forced by Rangers, they got back into it on53mins. Billy Green fed Edeson on the angle of the box. He went away from goal before back-heeling the ball into the path of Rob Northen. He carried the ball into the box but was being leant on as he attempted to drive on, and fell under the pressure. The referee was well placed to decide on the penalty. Dave Ricardo neatly stepped up to send Armstrong the wrong way to level the scores. 1-1

Rangers were making headway down the right and When Staveley full back Adam Bark lifted Andy Catton into the air with a late challenge. After all the players had hurriedly met to discuss the challenge on the halfway line, Bark was shown a straight red card.

Matty Edeson nearly started his Rangers tenure with a goal when Catton fed him on the edge of the six. The ex- hull City players touch, swivel and shot looked to going into the top corner but Armstrong saved again. 65mins.

Dale replaced Whitehouse on 79mins. Rangers pushed for a win. A Rangers free kick from Haywood into the box had the Winterton players claiming a penalty for handball after a Catton shot was blocked away. The resultant corner was cleared to Clarke but his lob back in was just too far in front of Northen’s outstretched leg and the keeper collected.81mins.

Four minutes later a corner from the right found Walmsley at the far post but he headed just wide. As the seconds ebbed away the game looked destined to be a draw. The Ref. signalled two minutes added time, but in the fourth minute Rangers won it with the last kick of the game when Danny Clarke rifled in a low drive from the edge of the box.

FINAL SCORE 2-1

Staveley felt aggrieved at the end but Winterton made far more chances during the game and deserved the points. In previous years Rangers would have gone on to lose this sort of game but they battled and deserved the win.