Stafford Town notched up their second home win of the season as they continue to maintain a perfect record against Staffordshire based sides, defeating northern neighbours Abbey Hulton United 2-0 at Evans Park. Stafford were forced to show steel in the first half, adding footballing substance in the second to make it five wins and five defeats from their opening ten league matches and in the process leapfrog the visitors in the table. The first half was a game of attrition with few clear chances as excellent high pressing from Abbey constantly forced Stafford to clear their lines before seeing direct balls come back at them, almost as if both sides were playing for territory. The best early chance for Stafford came in the 8th minute, a clever corner delivered to the front post by Josh Wilson mishit wide by Josh Oultram. There was then an early half-chance for Abbey, some neat interplay upfront involving former Kidsgrove man Anthony Malbon leading to a shot that Joe Morris was able to push wide for a corner. The best chance of the first half came in the 26th minute, Oultram heading over from close range as he got on the end of a delightful outside foot cross from the right by Ryan Bradshaw. As the half drew to a close Ryan Taylor managed to slip the ball through to Bradshaw in the box but his shot was blocked for a corner. Although Abbey had seen a couple of inviting low crosses evade everyone and looked a threat from set-pieces, overall Stafford had weathered the storm well, defenders Ben Vangucci, Matt Dudley and Ben Douglas looking solid, aided by midfield dynamos Charlie Swingwood and Ben Wood. HT 0-0. The second half was perhaps the best of the season for Stafford, Swingwood getting it off to a great start as he headed home a Taylor corner just three minutes in. The goal lifted Stafford into another gear and severely impacted on Abbey’s performance, as they seemed to lose all team cohesion in their pressing and attacking intent. There was a rare sight in the 53rd minute as Bradshaw somehow managed to get himself clear in behind the Abbey backline from a long ball, the Abbey ‘keeper slicing his clearance to Oultram whose follow-up was blocked for a corner. Following a couple of good crosses by Wilson, one of which was headed a fraction wide by Swingwood and the other just evading Oultram; John Pollard saw his cross hit the post as Stafford pressed the advantage. Two more ranged efforts by Oultram and Swingwood preceded the second goal for Stafford, Abbey initially clearing a 68th minute corner to Wood who fed the ball wide to Taylor on the left, his low cross dummied by Bradshaw before reaching Douglas at the far post, who stroked the ball home. Abbey seemed to sense the game was up, appearing to run out of ideas in attack and frequently resorting to long shots, although Vangucci was on hand to make a superb last ditch tackle on one occasion. Stafford managed the final twenty minutes of the match with compete assurance, substitutes Chris Anderson and Tom Duffy seamlessly replacing their counterparts. FT 2-0 Stafford Town. All the best bits of the match can be found here at our YouTube channel Stafford Town TV:
https://youtu.be/63g908RRkMQ
