Lancaster City 1, Stafford Rangers 2: Rangers raid leaves Dolly Blues pointless

The big news before kick-off was the return of captain Andrew Teague to the starting line-up after an extended spell on the sidelines.

However, his comeback lasted only 20 minutes after he sustained a head injury in an aerial clash with Stafford’s strapping No.9 Ntumba Massanka.

An unpredictable start to the game set the tone for much of what was to follow. Lancaster struck lucky when a cross fizzed through the surprised Sam Waller’s hands, hit the post and bounced clear.

At the other end, David Norris had a chance but could not cut the ball inside the far post.

After the loss of Teague, Stafford took the lead

It also generated Stafford’s opening goal when Waller was found out of position and Alex Kiwomya stroked the ball home from 25 yards into an empty net.

With the visitors ahead at the interval, the home side went searching for an equaliser.

Nico Evangelinos’ close-range free-kick was acrobatically parried away by Cameron Belford, and the same player was then unfortunate to see his point-blank effort strike the post.

Saved by the woodwork, Stafford countered but Waller thwarted Kiwomya.

However, the visitors went 2-0 in front on 58 minutes when Kiwomya raced away from Jamie Mellen and squared to Jaiden White who couldn’t miss.

The woodwork then denied Lancaster for a second time as Dom Lawson’s glancing header bounced off the far post.

Lancaster snatched a goal with three minutes remaining to half the deficit as Whitham capitalised on defensive confusion to lash a volley home from close range.