Brown pops up with vital goal

Play-off zone back within reach before Weston visit

Hungerford Town 2 Concord Rangers 1

STEFAN Brown marked his return from injury to score the late winner that keeps Crusaders on the play-off brink heading into Monday night’s home game with Weston-Super-Mare.

Rangers have been easing away from the Vanarama National League South relegation zone and they made a bright start with Lyle Della-Verde giving new boy Lewis Ward a settling save and Dion Sembie-Ferris shooting over, while Rhys Tyler, Luke Williams and Louis Soares all went close for Hungerford.

But it was the Canvey Island side that took the lead after 31 minutes when Steve Cawley forced Ward to save but Amos Nasha snapped up the rebound.

Rangers’ own on-loan goalkeeper from Brighton, Bailey Vose, had to deny Warren Bentley before the break but Hungerford began to take charge after the break and pulled level after 53 minutes when James Clark’s free kick was converted by Jon Boardman, and the visitors began to lose their way with manager Adam Flanagan sent to the stands.

Hungerford eventually snatched the decider after 83 minutes when Brown put his header beyond Vose back into sixth place in the Table with the prospect of returning to the play- off spots if they can beat the Somerset club tonight.

Hungerford Town: Ward; Tyler, Boardman, Day, Jones; Clark, Herring, Williams, Soares; Brown, Bentley. Subs: Goodger, Jarvis, Rees, Thomas, O’Brien.