Alix Dorrington's introduction to Stafford Rangers.

Our Staffordshire counterparts visit the Abbey for the second time this season on Saturday. This time however, it's as a side with only pride left to play for as they took first place in the race to be relegated, sealing their fate with a 4-0 loss to York at Marston Road on Tuesday.

What led to this early exit through the relegation trapdoor? Well, let's begin the tale of Stafford Rangers' recent history from the top. The top of the Conference North to be precise, which is where Boro spent a large part of the 2005/2006 season, however they ended up finishing a fair way short of Northwich Victoria in the race to crowned champions.

Despite the misery of missing out on the Conference North title, they finished in runners up spot and headed the play-off line up. Stafford faced Yorkshire side Harrogate Town, who they finished a mammoth 14 points ahead of. In the one legged semi-final, hosted at Marston Road as Rangers' reward for finishing second, a goal from Alex Gibson on the hour booked Stafford a place in the final at Burton's shiny new Pirelli Stadium, where they would face Droylsden.

In front of a 2,700 strong crowd, Stafford clinched promotion to the promised land as they overcame Droylsden 5-3 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in which Stafford took the lead through the evergreen Simon Grayson after half hour but were pegged back, ironically from the spot, by Terry Fearns in the second half.

With a long season of struggle ahead, most bookies had Stafford nailed on for the drop. However Boro defied the odds and avoided the relegation zone like the plague; the part-timers didn't slip inside the drop zone once all year and the reward for their efforts was safety with 4 points to spare.

The crux of the avoidance of the drop was the goals of Guy Madjo, who left for pastures more southern, joining Crawley Town. After he upped sticks, Stafford were always likely to struggle during this season but with all the sides at the bottom seemingly trying to out 'worse' each other at the bottom, manager of 5 ½ years Phil Robinson parted company with Stafford, leaving senior players Neil Grayson and Kevin Street in charge until a suitable replacement could be found.

Wolverhampton Wanders legend Steve Bull was the man who stepped up to the plate, however he couldn't save Stafford from the inevitable. In his own words: ''I'm not a miracle worker, I don't think anyone could have kept Stafford up''.

In Retrospect

Previous Meetings

The relationship between Cambridge United and Stafford Rangers is at a comparatively early stage, with our acquaintance only surfacing at the start of last season. The U's have bagged two wins to date, with Rangers' win here last season proving their solitary victory.

The 2006/07 Conference campaign marked our first encounter with the 13th January 2007 clash.

The U's started brightly with Josh Simpson and Wayne Purser threatening, whilst three penalty appeals were turned down. The gullible nature of the home side then surfaced, as Rangers snatched the lead on 29 minutes thanks to Olaoye hoovering up a loose ball after a shot was parried by Shane Herbert. Frustration dominated the second half as United wasted a multitude of chances, but Rangers held out for the points leaving United perilously poised in twentieth place.

The return match in early March 2007 saw United arrive at Marston Road unbeaten in six games, and the game opened with both sides freely attacking, but it was Robinson's charges who went ahead on 20 minutes thanks to David McNiven. United's equaliser came just before half-time, David Bridges' goal prompting the U's to emerge firing on all cylinders after the break.

As United dominated but squandered chances, a draw looked on the cards. Nevertheless, the winner finally arrived via the boot of loanee Christian Smith three minutes from time, propelling Jimmy Quinn's men into seventeenth place.

This season saw us meet three times within seventeen days during October, two of those encounters coming in the FA Cup. The first of the trilogy came on 13 October 2007 and a BSP clash at Marston Road. The U's started brightly and, with Courtney Pitt swiftly putting the visitors 1-0 up, a possible rout looked on the cards. United proved wasteful though, and Simon Grayson pulled Rangers level after half an hour. The second-half saw Scott Loach save a Lee Boylan penalty and, despite a hatful of chances, Quinn's side had to settle for a point.

The FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round game a fortnight later at the same venue produced another 1-1 draw, with Scott Rendell converting a first-half penalty and Neil Grayson levelling, again from the spot, after the interval. This was overshadowed, though, by the injury to Marco Addagio, who fell awkwardly when winning Rangers' penalty and was stretchered off with a suspected broken leg. The Abbey replay three days on served up a more emphatic scoreline as United galloped to the First Round courtesy of a 5-1 victory.

Loanee Darryl Knights (above) put in a sterling performance and bagged a brace, with a goal apiece from Lee Boylan, Rob Wolleaston and Scott Rendell completed the scoreline.

To read Doug Shulman's full 'Previous Meetings' article, please buy Saturday's Matchday Programme.

Alix Dorrington

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