Bully and Rangers are down

It’s all over for Stafford Rangers.

A shambolic second half display against York at Marston Road last night put the final nail in their coffin to send them tumbling out of the Blue Square Premier after just two seasons.

Manager Steve Bull wanted his inherited team to go down fighting, but all he got was a token gesture from a bunch of tired and deflated players who knew the end was nigh.

For 45 minutes, Rangers held their own against a York team smarting from a six-goal thrashing at the weekend. Then the floodgates opened.In a six minute spell, Rangers crumbled to a two-goal deficit: Martyn Woolford started the rout in the 52nd minute, pouncing on a loose ball and smashing a shot past Danny Alcock. Six minutes later, Ben Purkiss picked out Richard Brodie with a simple pass into the box and the York striker had all the time and space to slot goal number two.

From then on, only Alcock stood between Rangers and a real rout. With the match sponsors looking for a Rangers player to get their man of the match award, there was no other option.

However there was nothing he could do about Stuart Elliott’s 25-yard thunderbolt when the York midfielder was left completely unmarked from a corner kick.

Deep into injury time, Alcock made one final point-blank block to deny Woolford a second goal - unluckily for the Rangers keeper, the ball ran straight to Robinson who completed Rangers night of misery.

Alcock did not deserve that - but as for the rest, they got what they deserved.