Rangers miss out on a cup final
Wednesday 23rd March 2011, 8:30AM GMT.
Stafford Rangers missed out on a Staffordshire Senior Cup final clash with Stoke after Evo-Stik Division One South club Kidsgrove Athletic chalked up a shock win.
Goals from Tim Sanders and Aiden Matranga guided the visitors through 2-0, with the home side rarely threatening.
Rangers had won back-to-back Blue Square North games against Blyth Spartans and Gloucester going into the semi-final last night and manager Matt Elliott was at a loss to explain his side’s poor performance.
He said: “After two wins on the trot that was a big disappointment.
“The games against Blyth and Gloucester were great results and great performances but, for whatever reason, we didn’t turn up tonight.
“Kidsgrove showed more desire and commitment and deserved to go through. They were quite imposing and we didn’t deal with that aspect of the game.
“We need to be physically and mentally tougher week in, week out. Not one player played to the standard they are capable of.
“We may have had a lot of possession, particularly in the second-half, but there was no quality and we didn’t test their goalkeeper apart from a couple of half chances.”
Rangers now head to in-form Eastwood on Saturday looking for a third successive league win.
Elliott said: “This defeat is disappointing but not a body blow as our main target is the weekend’s game at Eastwood.
“It would have been nice to get to a final but we need to concentrate on the main business now.
“We showed we have the physical and athletic ability to battle when we played Gloucester.
“I just think we were a little bit fatigued after the big effort we put in on Saturday.”
UK Sport
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