ALL HAIL ‘MAC AS RANGERS BITE BACK
MASSIAH was the ‘Stafford Messiah’ as his hat-trick helped Rangers come from behind to beat South Shields.
McDonald is on loan at the Evo-Stik Premier club from Coalville Town and helped the hosts recover from an audacious opener from Shields’ Robert Briggs to claim the match ball.
They will now join the 44 Step 2 teams in the draw for the third round qualifying.
It didn’t look like that was going to be the case though with just seven minutes on the clock. South Shields, flying high at the top of Evo-Stik North, had the better of the opening minutes and took the lead with an ambitious effort.
Briggs fashioned a lob from a tight angle that looped over a stranded Brad Caswell and found the far corner.
Rangers weren’t behind for long though. Just moments after the restart, McDonald found the net for the third time in three games as he neatly put away Josh Craddock’s cut-back.
The rest of the first half remained even, with both sides fashioning chances. Caswell parried an effort back to Michael Richardson who, looking for Gavin Cogdon, inadvertently found Barrie Smith, but his shot was saved.
For Stafford, Kieren Westwood controlled a throw well before firing narrowly wide.
It was the visitors who came out firing after the break with Carl Finnigan chip- ping just over, but the introduction of Rich Gregory calmed things down for Stafford.
With just over ten minutes on the clock, McDonald grabbed both his and the hosts second. A fine piece of individual skill saw him weave his way into the box and find the bottom corner.
And five minutes later, 27-year-old McDonald completed his hat-trick at the back post after a good cross from the left.