FC United's faint play-off hopes over with Stafford defeat

FC United’s faint hopes of making the Pitching In Northern Premier Division play-offs came to an abrupt end with a lacklustre 1-0 home defeat to Stafford Rangers on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,042 supporters – the second biggest crowd of the season at Broadhurst Park. 

Striker Kaiman Anderson scored the only goal in the penultimate game of the season on 65 minutes when he took advantage of a slip by centre-back Jan Palinkis to go one-on-one with Dan Lavercombe. Anderson gave the goalkeeper no chance by slotting the ball into the bottom corner. 

The Reds offered very little in return and mustered just one shot on target all match. With the experienced midfield trio of club captain Charlie Ennis, Luke Griffiths and Michael Potts all unavailable, United struggled to get into the match. 

The main talking point of the afternoon was the controversial sending off of a nine-year-old ballboy late on by referee Kane Dempster. 

In an unsavoury incident, former FC United goalkeeper Cameron Belford was seemingly unable to use his hands quickly enough and was apparently hit in the face by a ball thrown by the ballboy from the corner of the St Mary’s Road End. 

Dempster decided the best course of action was to give a red card to a child, who was left in tears. Thankfully, those tears were short-lived as Broadhurst Park responded with a standing ovation for the dismissed ballboy, who was then invited to sit in the dugout with the players and coaching staff. Consider yourself FC.

It was one of the only pieces of drama in an abject game. The first half epitomised how little both sides were willing to give each other, with a succession of fouls and a lack of quality leading to a lack of goalmouth action.

FC would come close with chances from lofted balls looking for the head of Cane, but they just would not connect. The rest of the first half played out to much the same tune, with both sides looking to keep hold of the ball as much as possible. 

FC rang in the changes at half time, with Michael Donohue and Faisu Sangare making way for Matt van Wyk and Keegan Hartley.

The second half started much as the first one finished, with a succession of good defensive displays from both sides preventing any meaningful opportunities permeating. 

FC seemed to switch into a more attacking gear as the game entered its final phase, with Sandro Da Costa coming on to replace Adam Dodd. This appeared to signify FC moving into an ‘all or nothing’ mentality, sacrificing stability in midfield for pace up front.

But once Stafford took the lead, there was very little belief inside the ground that United were capable of producing an equaliser. 

In fact, Stafford could have had more, had it not been for the heroics of Lavercombe. The FC goal would be tested once again just moments later as Stafford began to move through the gears, but a smart low stop from the FC number one ensured that the score line remained at just the one goal.

Frustration began to grow inside the FC camp that they struggled to get into any sort of rhythm due to the number of fouls from the away side, which the Reds struggled to play out from. Stafford would make their first substitution of the game with 15 to play, with Ethan Morgan replacing Joe Willis.

It would be Willis going into the referee’s book just seconds after coming on, as he lost out in a running race to Sandro Da Costa. Another entry into the referee’s book would come minutes later, but this one was a little more interesting. 

As the referee indicated that there was four minutes to be added, it was Stafford who were looking more like adding a second, rather than FC levelling proceedings. 

The Reds did have a late flurry as they worked a whipped ball across the face of goal into a corner, but this was palmed away by Belford, who had no trouble getting his hands to the ball on that occasion.  

Dontai Gabidon then whipped a ball into the box looking for the head of Curtis Jones, but Belford once again rose highest to grab the ball, with his hands. Unfortunately for FC United, the only ball Belford seemed to struggle dealing with all afternoon was the one thrown by the ballboy.  

As Neil Reynolds delivered his end of season speech to the supporters, FC United fans can be cautiously optimistic that the seeds have been sewn for a successful season next term.

After the game, Neil Reynolds said: “It’s games like this that are the reason for us not being up there. Obviously, it would’ve been a challenge, but it still feels like a blow now that it’s mathematically impossible.

“In terms of our players, I'm never going to hang an individual out to dry, but when you’re missing the number of players we are and you come up against a good Stafford side like that, it can be a difficult game.”

Man of the match: Dan Lavercombe. Kept United in it during his 101st appearance for the club, which makes him our joint-third most capped goalkeeper since 2005.

Report by Callum Scott and Matthew Haley