Express & Star

Video: Stafford Rangers go 18 points clear

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Manager Neil Kitching insists the champagne remains on ice for champions-elect Stafford Rangers but admits "it's ours to lose."

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Kitching watched Boro move 18 points clear at the Evo-Stik Division One South summit courtesy of a hard-fought and tempestuous 3-1 win at Romulus on Saturday.

Possession and territory was evenly spread during the first-half at Coles Lane, but Stafford spurned by far the better openings.

Christian Dacres had an effort cleared off the line, Levi Reid missed from eight yards with the goal at his mercy and star-man Nathan Rooney drew a smart low stop from home goalkeeper Stuart Parsons.

Skipper Dacres nodded the league leaders in front four minutes, after the restart, but a well-worked corner ended with the division's leading scorer Luke Keen levelling matters for Romulus.

The match began to peter out, but an off-the-ball incident in which Roms playmaker Chad Degville-Cross hit the deck after a coming together with Reid was the prelude to a late flurry for the visitors.

Goalkeeper Adam Whitehouse pumped a long free-kick into the box, with crucial touches from Dacres and Ben Haseley teeing up Rooney's cool close-range finish with 16 minutes to play.

Jermaine Johnson wrapped up the points four minutes later, after Haseley had recycled a Rooney free-kick from the right.

It left Kitching cautiously optimistic on the back of nine league wins in 10 matches.

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He said: "There are still a lot of games for us to play and Coalville and Shaw Lane have games in hand.

"They are both more than capable of going on the kind of run we have put together, they are top sides with good managers and strong finances so the next three months will be interesting.

"It probably is ours to lose now but we are not celebrating, we are not champions yet and there is still a lot of work to do.

"Those games in hand could bring the others closer to us so we just have to maintain our focus and keep chipping away at the points tally."

Kitching claimed he didn't see the incident between Reid and Degville-Cross, which resulted in no action from referee Daniel Middleton.

It came despite a lengthy consultation with his assistant, but praised his players for holding their nerve. He added: "It was a bit feisty, at times.

"I think you get that with a local element to the game and us being top of the table, players raise their game a little bit and fly into tackles.

"But we didn't react in certain situations where we could have gone down to 10 men."