Colin Little blasts home Alty's second.

THE rollercoaster continues.

Less than a week after falling into the Blue Square Premier drop zone for the first time in two months, Alty hauled themselves right back out again with a 2-0 win over Stafford Rangers.

Graham Heathcote's troops approached the game knowing it was one they simply could not afford to lose, but it actually turned out to be one they could not fail to win.

Stafford were utterly abysmal, already resigned to their dismal fate.

The Robins, on the other hand, were not exactly inspiring but at least showed superior class and hunger throughout.

Colin Little's seventh and eighth goals in his past seven games sealed victory but the result had never been in doubt.

Even within the opening two minutes, the writing was well and truly on the wall. Employing a 4-3-3 formation, with Colin Little and Chris Senior supporting targetman Joe O'Neill from wide, they attacked with menace and purpose.

Liam King was first to threaten, his stinging effort pushed away by Danny Alcock with less than a minute on the clock, before O'Neill pulled his shot disappointingly wide from 10 yards soon after.

Senior was also denied a swift opener when Alcock rushed out to smother his effort after he had turned sharply inside the area.

Stafford, meanwhile, looked absolutely toothless up front, although Alty did their best to hand them an undeserved break on a silver platter.

In an attempt to deal with Nick Wellecomme's far post cross, King aimed a panicky header in the vague direction of his keeper Stuart Coburn.

The Robins stopper reacted quickly to keep the ball out of his net and then leapt up to make a point blank save from Alex Gibson on the rebound.

But the defensive clumsiness seemed to be catching, as an error at the opposite end allowed the home side to take the lead on 14 minutes.

Usually big Stafford centre half Wayne Daniel is a monster in the air, every cross or long ball slapping off his huge forehead and falling to safety. But, for some reason, he completely failed to deal with Ryan Shotton's long throw, heading it straight to Little who sent a looping header into the top corner of the net.

Alty eased off somewhat after the first goal and earned the wrath of their manager for doing so.

After inviting pressure from the visitors, they had a lucky escape when shots from Djouman Sangare and Ross Draper were blocked inside the area and Marco Adaggio fired his follow-up tamely wide.

By half time though, the game was secure.

Alty sliced open Rangers' defence once more and O'Neill laid Robbie Lawton's cross into the path of Little, the Robins' top scorer finishing with consummate ease from six yards.

If the first half had been a somewhat tame affair, the second was downright tedious.

Despite a bright enough start, which saw both Senior and Warren Peyton denied by Alcock, Alty seemed happy enough to sit on their two-goal lead.

It meant the emphasis was on Stafford to carve open their defence but the visitors were attempting to do it with the equivalent of a nail file rather than a butcher's knife.

In fact, Alty had the best chance of the half when O'Neill turned on a through ball from Greg Young and volleyed towards goal from 15 yards, his effort crashing against the bar.

Other than a tame header from Adaggio and shots from Nathan Smith and Wellecomme which both flew straight at Coburn, Rangers barely created a scoring chance.

This may have been a well-deserved and crucial win for the Robins but tougher tests lie ahead.

6:55pm Monday 24th March 2008

Colin Little is congratulated by Greg Young and Joe O'Neill after scoring his side's first goal against Stafford.

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