Ashton United 1 Stafford Rangers 0 - Report
Stafford failed to recover from a disappointing start in Lancashire, going down to a solitary goal at play-off hopefuls Ashton United.
In a game of few real chances, Neil Kitching’s side saw plenty of the ball but could not find a way past Dave Carnell in the Mancunians goal.
The home side made the perfect start when, with just eight minutes on the clock, Deane Smalley headed past Boro keeper Adam Whitehouse.
The goal seemed to kick-start the visitors and they twice went close to levelling soon after through strike pair Tyrell Waite and Osebi Abadaki before Ashton keeper pulled off a decent stop to keep out another Waite effort.
With half-time approaching, Whitehouse did well to keep out another Smalley effort while at the other end, Stafford skipper Josh Craddock was denied by the upright.
The hosts maintained their slender lead until the interval and the second half followed a similar pattern with both sides having nothing more than half chances.
Then, with 15 minutes to go, Liam Tomsett should have doubled the lead when he found himself with just the keeper to beat only for him to place his shot wide of the target.
Tomsett missed an even better chance a minute from time, rattling the Solihull crossbar when it would have been easier to score.
