Stockport County 3 FC United of Manchester 3 ( FA Cup 3QR ) 30 September 2017
I really
hate the sad old cliché `Game of 2 Halves', but this was very much that, with
irritating knobs on!
The anti
Gannon brigade will latch onto Jason Oswell's half time substitution as the reason
why that 3-0 lead vanished in its entirety in the 45 minutes that followed, but
is that enough of an explanation?
 |
| Oswell- a threat. |
It was a collective failure for me,
particularly defensively, and what is the Manager to do when a player indicates a tight hamstring?
Keep him on and risk it...surely not!
Oswell's
replacement Harry Winter should have insulated County against any FCUM comeback, instead there was a
procession of second half attacks from the men in red and white that at times had
us in knots.
 |
| FCUM attack through Mantack. |
That
said.....the equaliser was as good an
example of pantomime refereeing as I have seen.
Mr Doughty fell over himself to award a late/ late penalty to FCUM after
Tom
Greaves finally remembered to go down half a yard after Hinchliffe's challenge,
which made little or no contact with the player anyway .
The constant
rain was as dispiriting as our second half performance,
but without Mr Doughty's intervention we just might have been saved a trip to
Moston this coming Tuesday!
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| New EP Water Feature. |
Back at 3
o'clock the first disappointment of the day came with the realisation that
County were kicking our way in the first half.
 |
| Substantial away support ! |
Still....maybe
we could score a bag full and cruise through the second 45 and into the next
round.
The early
minutes saw County attacking so I was not disavowed of those thoughts at this
stage- as Walker lifted
an opening effort over the bar.
 |
| Walker to the fore....... |
Warburton
was quickly back again for County, and Scott Kay conceded a corner when much worse looked to be on the cards for the men in red.
Keeper
Lloyd Allinson caught the kick that followed and the immediate threat was over,
allowing FCUM to construct an attack .
 |
| Keepers ball....... |
County conceded what looked to be the cheapest of free kicks during this, but
despite the kicks central position, the visitors could make nothing of it.
 |
| FC waste a free kick. |
Ball saw his
shot drift wide, 10 minutes in, from a free kick after Cowan's run had been
halted by a foul.
This was not
a classic encounter at all, indeed the welter of free kicks were a constant
irritation. County's attacking play won them a series of corners too, Thomas
doing particularly well with a pacy run down the right.
 |
| Thomas looking good.... |
Allinson's response to
the first of these corners, from Walker, was a prodigious flap, and from the
second FCUM escaped when Smalley's header cleared the bar.
 | |
| Ooo...errrr...close that ! |
Ball
meanwhile, was looking in his element back in midfield, and he must have been
miffed to see Oswell flagged offside on the end of one of his neat passes.
 |
| Ball, caught nicely by Andrew Machin. |
That was 16
minutes in, the seventeenth saw Warburton in behind the visitors back line. He
looked well set, but he again lifted his effort over the bar.
 | |
| Warburton in good nick( Andrew Machin ) |
That one was
closer.....but we needed an opening goal to silence the largish FCUM following.
I was
bemused to see O'Halloran booked not
long after, but relieved to see the Moston team fail to press home a notional
advantage from this, Duxbury being able to run the ball clear under pressure.
 |
| Duxbury- flying ( Andrew Machin )! |
The next
action was a tad worrying as Walker and O'Halloran managed to tackle one
another, letting Kallam Mantack claim possession and break up the park. This
was a half chance probably , but it was another one that was not taken, and
they were quickly punished for their profligacy!
Out of
defence...County were suddenly attacking, and both Oswell and Warburton fancied
it as the pair surged on into the oppositions box. It was a chance for sure,
and Warburton claimed it slamming a fine
finish into the net to loud acclaim from the County support.
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| Andrew Machin sees Warburton take congrats for the first goal ! |
County were
one up, and it was the signal for frenetic action in the box in front of
Allinson's goal.- Thomas winning a corner with his energetic play from which
both Walker and Oswell went close, but there was no cigar for County and it stayed
1-0.
 |
| Thomas on the ball ( Andrew Machin ) |
The County
pressure continued, but without much in the way of luck accruing with it as
Thomas was adjudged offside having burst clear( hmmm).....and Warburton saw a
certain corner, after Zac Corbett's block had sent the ball behind, magically
become a goal kick at the hands of Mr Doughty( hmmm again!).
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| Before our very eyes ! |
My angst was
somewhat lessened with the sight of Duxbury's cool work disposing of a
potentially lethal break from Mantack, and totally banished , 34 minutes in,
with a second County goal.
FCUM had put
a move or two together in the preceding 3 or 4 minutes and I was a touch
concerned should they nick an equaliser against the run of play, but County
were attacking again and Thomas was still busily pinging in the crosses for
others to feed off- one such seeing ex Hatter Jordan Fagbola earn a rebuke from
the referee along with a card.
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| 2-0 (- Andrew Machin sees Warburtons shot beat the keeper. |
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| and one from Cheadle End with intervention from Row P |
It was a
free kick then , and from it Warburton curled the ball beautifully beyond the
keeper's best efforts to deny him, and into the net! It was now 2-0 to County
and quite a decent position from which to dictate matters here on out!
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| 2 views of Ball in aerial action - hedgie (top) Andrew Machin ( below) |
But County
were not content to rest on their laurels and set about increasing their lead
which, with just 2 minutes of normal time remaining, they did.
Duxbury's
run did the spade work, taking him to the by-line whereupon he slid the ball
inside to Oswell who stabbed the ball home from half a yard out!
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| 3-0 Andrew Machin sees Oswell's goal. |
FCUM seemed
to be falling apart at this juncture.....Corbett following Fagbola into the
referee's book. They held out until the break however, the teams going in with
the score still 3-0 to County.
 | |
| 2 Cheadle End views from Andrew Machin. |
There were
multiple changes when the teams returned. I expected perhaps some reaction from
FCUM, and there was a big one...... Greaves, Hughes and Nicholas, coming on for
Connor, Fagbola and Senior, but County also made a change, and it was to swap defensive midfielder Harry Winter for scorer
Jason Oswell. What was that all about? Well it could only be injury or a move
to safeguard against such, and that's what was confirmed later( tight hams) .
 |
| Oswell + company ( Andrew Machin ) |
Thomas and
Warburton were up front now for the blues, and I was not unduly worried or
downhearted even when Hinchliffe had to exercise himself to keep a shot from
Steve Irwin out.
No...County
were doing much of the attacking still...Duxbury was probing diligently...
 |
| Stopforth -busy ( Andrew Machin ) |
Stopforth
was a busy lad buzzing about hither and thither and then some, and I fancied
that Winter , with 11 minutes gone of the half, was settling in well on his
return.
Hmmm...........
not unjustified in my opinion all those
last comments, but we needed to keep and use the ball ,and suddenly we didn't giving
possession to Matt Hughes , who wasted no time at all in
picking Jason Gilchrist out, and the score was pegged back to 3-1 as the
forward beat Hinchliffe conclusively with his finish.
 |
| Andrew Machin sees FCUM first go in. |
From a
position of first half dominance, County were now looking likely to implode,
and it was a relief next to see Irwin's shot miss out by inches with Hinchliffe
exposed.
 | |
| FCUM under pressure. |
County
weathered the storm sufficiently to allow Duxbury to run at their opponents
causing more than a little concern for them. Duxbury was looking in great nick
again and it was an earth shatterer to see him felled by a rank bad challenge from
Kay. Kay was booked...County got a free kick, but by far the more salient point
was that Duxbury had to be stretchered off.
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| Duxbury stretchered off ( Andrew Machin ) |
We just did
not need this type of ill fortune, and I would say that this was as telling a
moment as was Oswell's subbing in deciding County's fate.
Connor Hampson
replaced Duxbury , but in short order County's lead was reduced again as
Mantack and Gilchrist were allowed space to spare in County's final third. The
ball found its way to Greaves and it was 3-2 as he drilled another neat finish
home!
We were up
against it now, and FCUM clearly had wind in their sails , even so County had
their moments that might have been, notably 78 minutes in as Warburton was
felled in the box on the end of Hampson's pass, only for the visitors to get a
free kick( it's that after shave again Matty!)
From the
kick County almost let FCUM in , more specifically Gilchrist, who was only
denied by Hinchliffe's prompt action in leaving his area as the forward was
played clear.
 |
| FCUM break from deep. |
Twice after
this Gilchrist went close- his shot thudding into the boards a foot wide after
78 minutes, and narrowly short of getting to Irwin's final ball thanks to
Hampson's intervention.
County were
under much pressure now, their cause not aided by ,shall we say some eccentric
decisions from the referee- one such that had County defending a laughable free
kick awarded against Cowan on what could only be a whim!
Hinchliffe
held the resultant header from Corbett.......
 | ||
| Cool from Hinchliffe..... |
.......but
when the County keeper repeated the remedy a couple of minutes later- it was
3-3.
Unaccountably.....with
FCUM attacking ,and Greaves unconvincingly
going to earth as Hinchliffe dived to make a save , the referee pointed to the
spot to howls of protest from most of the 3000+ crowd.
 |
| 3-3 |
It was a
poor decision , but it stood, and a replay was earned as Irwin kick went straight
as a dye into the net !But...poor as the refereeing decision was, fingers also
need to be pointed at the defence who allowed Greaves into the box.
County tried
to square the circle in the little time that remained, facing some particularly
iffy challenges en-route as they went- Dixon scythed down near the
touchline.....Thomas felled in the box
to no redress.
 |
| Down goes Thomas..... |
OK....Hinchliffe
had to make another dash out of the box
to save the day with Greaves dashing clear, and O'Halloran's late headed
clearance did for a dangerous Mantack cross, but it was still a disappointment
for it to finish level albeit on the balance of 90 odd minutes a neutral might
say that was fair enough.
Moston on a
wet Tuesday evening is not an immediately appealing prospect, but I hope to be
there, and hope you will be too!
Stockport
County line up:
Hinchliffe,
Cowan, Smalley, O'Halloran, Duxbury(Hampson 69) , Ball, Walker, Thomas, Oswell
( Winter 46), Stopforth, Warburton( Dixon
78) .
Subs not
used; Ormson, Clarke, McKenna, Czubik.
FC United of
Manchester line up:-
Allinson,
Brady, Wisdom, Kay, Fagbola( Hughes 46), Corbett, Senior( Nicholas 46), Connor(
Greaves 46), Gilchrist, Irwin, Mantrack.
Subs not
used; Logan, Braid, Jones, McCarthy.
Attendance :
3034
hedgegrower
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