Forwards praised after Chasetown overpower 10-man Stafford Rangers

Second half goals from Luke Yates and Daniel O’Callaghan, after the hosts had seen Ackeme Francis-Burrell sent-off for an elbow, kept the Scholars on course for a top-five finish in Northern Premier League Division One West, in front of more than 1,000 fans at Marston Road.

Hawkins felt his team upped their game in the second period and explained how a tactical tweak had eventually done the trick.

Chasetown Assistant Manager Jamie Hawkins said: “In the second half, even before the sending off, I felt we passed the ball a little bit better,

“A little bit crisper, and it allowed us to move them around a little bit more and gave us a bit more joy at the top end of the pitch.

“We've gone with (Benjamin) Lund, who's a bit more of a bigger, physical presence. And we felt that they were dealing with that quite well.

“So, we moved Yates there, who’s smaller, but he's lively, sharp and it's a different dynamic for them to try and deal with and I thought that worked in the end.”

George Cater set up both goals in his first game back after two weeks away in South Africa. 

Hawkins added: “He's been brilliant, George, and he offers you that real bit of quality in the final third.

“He's just had two weeks in South Africa, so this is his first game back. He was feeling his legs a little bit towards the end, but fair play to him.

“He's put a real good shift in and he's done his job today because his job in the team is to score and create goals.”

Rangers boss Neil Kitching felt Francis-Burrell’s dismissal just before the hour mark, after he was deemed to have led with his elbow challenging Joseph Thompson, was the game’ key moment.

“The red card is a massive turning point in the game and it's of no fault of anybody,” he said. “He's caught somebody with his elbow, he's led with his elbow, and he's caught the lad.”

Kitching continued: “It was a tough second half really. Obviously, we’re disappointed to lose the game in the manner that we have lost it. 

“But we’re more disappointed because of the turnout from the fans – over a thousand here – so we wanted to put on a performance for them and obviously try and get a result,

“And I think in the main up until the end of the half, we had put a performance on and we probably, first half, probably just edged it and were the better side and had a couple of opportunities, half chances, first half and hoped to go on and hammer that home second half and try and get a winner.

“But really the red card changed the whole context of the game and from there on, there was only going to be one winner.”

Hednesford Town remain second in the table after a 3-1 home win over Newcastle Town extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches.

The Pitmen had to come from behind when Oliver Armstrong became the first opposition player for six matches to breach their defence.

But Daniel Trickett-Smith and Jack Bearne scored either side of half-time to turn things around before Joe Doyle-Charles netted late on to secure the points.

“It was a frustrating first half,” said assistant boss Lee Vaughan. “We played against a team who had no fear and expressed themselves.

“We could have got the ball wider and hurt them but we didn’t.

“Conceding the goal was a test of character, absolutely. But I was really pleased with how we reacted to that.

“The second half we really expressed ourselves. I am really pleased with the group.”

Darlaston Town and Sporting Khalsa both kept their play-off hopes alive with important wins in the Midland Division.

Kieran Cook got the only goal as Darlaston claimed a 1-0 win over Bedworth United, while Khalsa came from a goal down to beat Boldmere St Michaels 3-1 at home.

Luke Ward, Callum Dolman and Simeon Cobourne were on the mark for Ian Rowe’s team.

Struggling Lye Town suffered heartbreak as two goals in the final seven minutes saw them lose 2-1 to Shepshed Dynamo, dealing a serious blow to their survival chances.