10 Man Basford Held By Stafford

Basford United 1-1 Stafford Rangers (Northern Premier League) 24.08.21

10-man Basford United picked up their second point of the season with a hard-earned draw against Stafford Rangers on Tuesday night.

Kane Richards opened his account following a return to the side with a fortuitous effort that spilled through the hands of Jonathon Brown, before Matt Thornhill was sent off for a foul on Thomas Tonks just after the hour.

Jake Charles’ strike midway through the second half ensured the points were shared as Basford improved on their drubbing against Atherton Collieries at the weekend.

“I’ve said at the end of the game that I was really pleased,” manager Steve Chettle said. “I thought we were worked harder – just like I questioned on Saturday – and I thought some of our football was really good first half.

“We ran through the shapes that we normally run and obviously keeping a clean sheet in the first half was a positive, too.

“We were unfortunate with the goal they scored in the second half.

“I think the two centre backs have collided with each other and the ball ran straight through to their centre forward who scores. However, there were plenty more positives to take from today than there was Saturday.”

Chettle made two changes to the defeat in Greater Manchester on Saturday; Brad Gascoigne missed out with a hip problem and was replaced by Dom Roma who partnered Stef Galinski in defence.

Skipper Thornhill regained his place in the starting XI after a groin injury forced him out of the last two fixtures and there was a position up front for Richards as he returned following a three-match suspension picked up last season.

Niall Towle and youngster Nathaniel Peters dropped to the bench.

They began well; however, it was the dangerous Luca Navarro who should’ve opened the scoring after only two minutes when his shot, following a mazy run beyond James Clifton, deflected wide off a floored teammate.

Marcus Marshall was then beaten to Thornhill’s pass by Brown, before he linked up with Alex Howes down the left to win a series of corners which saw both Galinski and Richards go close.

In an open half, Charles had two decent opportunities in similar areas which had Adam Collin scrambling to cover his angles, and although Richards’ high cross-cum-shot four minutes later seemed innocuous enough, it slipped out of the grasp of Brown, bobbled over the line and United were ahead.

The ‘keeper made up for his error when he denied Rev James a second goal of the season soon after, and Rangers’ luck was well and truly out when midfielder Ryan-Jay Malbon hobbled off ten minutes before the break.

But it was they who were unlucky not to draw level early in the second half when Tonks’ wicked cross flashed across the face of goal away to safety; their intentions were evident.

As was the case in their two previous outings, United were the architects of their own downfall and just before the hour, Galinski and Roma failed to deal with a loose ball between them and Charles raced around Collin to slot home Stafford’s leveller into an empty net.

Mounting pressure forced to the hosts to retreat and Thornhill’s attempt to block Tonks’ hooked clearance on the halfway line was deemed reckless by referee Reece Davies who took an age to send the talismanic midfielder for a controversial early bath.

With the man advantage, Navarro then smashed the post via the lightest of touches from Collin’s hand before substitute Woods – on the stretch – couldn’t quite keep Andrew Burns’ dangerous cross down.

Both sides exchanged late chances which may have seen them take maximum points. Navarro again at the heart of things for his side when he stung the palms of Collin, only for Woods to smash the rebound into the side-netting.

Howes then found himself on the end of Wilson’s low cross, though could only hoist high over the crossbar from 12-yards out and a point apiece was just about fair.

United host Witton Albion on Saturday, before a trip to Carlton Palmer’s Grantham Town for their Bank Holiday Monday fixture (15:00), and will be without Thornhill who, pending a possible appeal, will be suspended.

“I thought for every day of the week it was a yellow card,” Chettle added on sending off. “I didn’t see the incident as such, but it looked like they’ve contested for a high ball and, as normal, Matty’s gone for the ball and their lad has kicked into him.

“From what I’ve seen, it’s a nasty injury and we wish him the best and hope he’s going to be okay.

“I’ve been in to see the referee and we now see if there’s any opportunity for us to appeal the red card as he might have made a mistake, we don’t know.

“But it doesn’t help us tonight. We’ve got one point when we possible could have had three and we rode our luck a little bit. We had to change our shape when we went down to ten men, but even then, we had a good couple of chances to win the game.”

Basford United: Adam Collin, James Clifton, Ryan Wilson, Dom Roma, Stef Galinski, Declan Dunn (Nathaniel Peters 55), Matt Thornhill (C), Alex Howes, Marcus Marshall, Kane Richards (Owen Betts 65), Rev James

Stafford Rangers: Jonathon Brown, Andrew Burns, Michael Lennon, Alex-Ray Harvey (C), Luis Morrison-Derbyshire, James O’Neill, Ryan-Jay Malbon (Ben Woods 36), Thomas Tonks (Charles Ten-Grotenhuis 66), Jack Charles, Alex Fletcher (Tyrone Ofori 90), Luca Navarro

Venue: Greenwich Avenue (309)