RANGERS made the long journey to Stafford on Saturday seeking revenge for the 4-2 West Midlands division one defeat inflicted on them at the beginning of September.

STAFFORD TOWN 3, MALVERN RANGERS 1

In the opening 15 minutes Stafford were a lot sharper than Rangers but fortunately their shots were mainly from outside of the penalty area and rarely troubled visiting goalkeeper Ross Sanders.

When they did score in the 14th minute, it followed a Rangers free-kick just outside the home penalty area which was cleared to Matthew Buckham, who left players in his wake. When the ball finally came in at the near post Rangers looked to have sufficient cover but Tony Draper nipped in to score.

Straight away at the other end an Andy Fletcher free-kick saw Ollie Endacott challenge with goalkeeper Paul Burn and when the ball broke loose to the edge of the box, Mike Cole shot wide.

When Rangers at last got one or two movements going they had two strong claims for penalties turned down. The first looked well inside the area but the free-kick was given outside and the other was for a handball, but play was waved on.

The second-half started with Stafford having a great chance to increase their advantage but after this, for the next 20-odd minutes, Rangers took over. Dave Perera squandered a good opportunity and Ollie Endacott had two chances to restore parity.

Stafford hit back, and on 22 minutes Mark Docherty saw his shot from outside the box squeeze under the body of Ross Sanders for goal number two.

Within the next minute, Sam Black missed an opportunity, as did Ollie Endacott, the ball was played up the other end and Craig Penney was adjudged to have committed a foul in the area. Tony Draper scored from the resultant penalty.

On the half-hour mark, both Dave Perera and Mike Cole missed point blank opportunities and eight minutes later Mike Cole played a good ball through to Ollie Endacott, who shot straight at keeper Paul Burn.

Rangers finally reduced the arrears with three minutes remaining when Ollie Endacott played the ball to Mike Cole who scored.

Even after this Rangers had a further opportunity which they failed to take and as a consequence they have now suffered their third consecutive defeat, which leaves the side firmly entrenched in the dog-fight in the lower regions of the division.

Man-of-the-match was Andy Fletcher.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Rangers, sponsored by the Cross Keys, entertain Ludlow Town Reserves in a West Midlands League division one fixture, with Ludlow one point better off than Rangers from one more game played. Kick off 1.45pm, players to meet at the ground 12.30pm.