Chorley FC 0 Stockport County 1 ( Vanarama National League - North) 22 October 2016
Apparently….
County had not beaten Chorley since late in the nineteenth century before
today. To be fair we haven’t played them much either, but that thought apart
the wait was well worth it as James Gannon’s side ran out convincing winners in
front of a bumper crowd at the Lancashire sides Victory Park stadium, against a
side unbeaten in nine consecutive league games prior to today.
The header view as seen by Andrew Machin. |
The margin
of victory might have been narrow at 1-0, but that hardly reflected how it was
on the park where County looked a class apart from their opponents for long
periods of a game that was in danger of being ruined by a multitude of free
kicks.
Unsurprisingly perhaps County’s goal came via Danny Lloyd, but
Cartwright had the ball in the net earlier and if that had stood, as it should
have, I would have been writing about a 2-0 win , a score line more in keeping
with events on the field. I am still nonplussed as to why the goal was ruled
out, but it was, and try as they might, Chorley could not capitalise on their
good fortune.
Cartwright & Challinor vie for possession( Andrew Machin ) |
Late on they did create a chance or two but found the County
defence resolute to a man , none more so than keeper Hinchliffe who pulled off
a truly excellent save in the games dying embers , to add to his considerable
assist for the County goal.
This was a
magnificent team effort from County. The whole back line shone brilliantly
throughout, reducing a decent Chorley side to resorting to mean fouls at times,
but I gave Michael Clarke my M.O.M gong for 90 odd minutes of concerted
excellence.
Clarke watches Gonzales.( Andrew Machin ) |
If the back four were top performers , the mid field were not far
behind them. Montrose was energy personified whilst taking more foul challenges
from opponents than most receive in a season, whilst alongside Montrose we had
Stopforth and Minihan, and their contribution to proceedings was immense…their
abundance of cool assurance shone through like a beacon pushing their
colleagues on to more and better deeds.
Stopforth runs onto a flick on from Hooper! |
Up front County had the inimitable Danny Lloyd
whose usual all action game was capped nicely with a finish to die for. If
Lloyd did well there was also good things to say about new boy James Hooper who
showed his FL skills to good effect a time or two. Amis worked really hard for
little reward, largely due to the input of Scott Leather who spent much of the
game climbing all over him.
err...a bit like this..( Andrew Machin ) |
His time will come!
There was
one change in County’s starting line up at 3 o’clock…..with new boy Hooper
coming in for an early County debut at the expense of Jimmy Ball. With ex
Hatter Kieren Charnock a late replacement for Chorley there was much interest
abroad in a large County contingent as the game got underway, with County
attacking the away end. Meanwhile…..Minihan was making good progress down the
right and a couple of throws from him and Ross put the home side under pressure.
James Hooper (Andrew Machin) |
Nothing came from either, but a run to the by-line by Hooper offered much and
more as his pass inside picked out Lloyd, but Danny was soon chewing mud
courtesy of Steve Jordan who had forced him down with the County man eyeing up
a shot. I wanted a penalty…. Mr Gibbons did not, and with the near side liner’s
flag was tucked away somewhere….. that was that.
a foul possibly !!!!!!( Andrew Machin ) |
Already
County looked a better bet than did Chorley, who appeared eager to by-pass mid
field at the earliest opportunity, lumping the ball high and long when circumstance
offered itself. This approach was designed to test the likes of Clarke and
Smalley to the full, but the first 6 minutes or so passed with no sign of this
occurring. Clarke even found time to get forward, like he does, but his header,
on 7 minutes, flew wide after an Amis run had garnered a free kick for
County.
Chorley under pressure. |
Both teams
probed the other for the next 5 minutes or so, each conceding more free kicks
than they might reasonably deem acceptable normally. One such offered County
another half chance only for Amis to direct his header wide.
Hooper and Amis at the sharp end. |
Hooper and
Stopforth were next to show for County, but their progress was ultimately
halted by the intervention of ex Hatter Kieren Charnock whose quick actions and
beefy up field clearance sorted a potentially difficult moment for the Magpies.
County defend. |
After this,
County were put briefly under pressure via a couple of free kicks – a brave
headed clearance from Smalley sorted one, and good work from Clarke the other,
and things got immediately better as Montrose and Minihan combined to fix Lloyd
up with a break from deep. Minihan re-joined Lloyd at the sharp end, and was
unlucky to see Matt Challoner in position to head his cross clear.
Lloyd on the burst ( Andrew Machin ) |
County were
looking sharp and energetic both in forward positions and at the back, but with
another ex Hatter in Chorley’s line up, Sefton Gonzales , they did have to
watch their step somewhat…at least that was what I thought.
Sefton Gonzales. |
Well…Gonzales
did well ,20 minutes in, setting Cottrell up with a rare chance to run at
County, but when the winger obliged by planting a neat cross under the posts,
Sefton fluffed his lines and headed wide. He fared no better moments later when
Blakeman’s cross headed in his direction, losing out to the speedy Hinchliffe
who beat him to the ball …..punching clear with authority.
County soon
reversed matters as a neat cooperation twixt Hooper and Stopforth once more
opened up the home defence, however briefly. Chorley survived the raid without
conceding, but it was close, and closer still less than a minute later as
Jordan hurried an effort from Lloyd out
with a goal looking very much on.
Chorley under the cosh.... |
For Chorley
…Walker made some ground down the right, but then wasted the chance to create
something by spraying the poorest of crosses wastefully across the box without
a black/white striped shirt in sight. Blakeman
did manage to record the first shot at goal from either side, though but
this thudded into the advertising hoardings some yards wide of Hinchliffe’s
goal, so the home side needed to up their game if they were to prevent this
lively County outfit from severely damaging their prized unbeaten run.
Back came
County in a flurry of concerted attacking play and Jarvis just did enough to
ensure that Minihan headed over the bar on the end of yet another free kick. It
was getting boring…Amis would set himself up to involve himself in a County
move, then Leather would haul him down before falling in a heap himself thus
duping the referee.
Lloyd pleads....... |
so does James ( both pics by Andrew Machin ) |
Amis narrowly
failed to reach Lloyd’s cross, on the half hour, and Jarvis was again in the
right position precisely at the right moment to stop any further damage. The
problem for Jarvis and his team however was that he had to concede a corner to
do this and from it an enormous melee and what looked like the opening goal
followed.
Incoming for Chorley 1 |
Cartwright was another man in the right spot just at the correct
moment and his strike, when the ball came out to him off a defender, was true
and smashed into the back of the net to send County’s following into raptures!
It was 1-0 …and then it wasn’t as the referee cancelled the goal. I am told he
blew before the shot for a foul that I did not see I must say, but the salient
fact was he was the boss so 0-0 it stayed!
Close call for Ashton ( Andrew Machin ) |
Cotterell
for Chorley and Lloyd for County both saw decent runs halted at the death by
good defending, and Cotterell fancied his chances shortly after on the end of
the umpteenth long/high one aimed from deep by Ashton or one of his colleagues.
Cottrell did get a header in, but Hinchliffe was coolness personified in
dealing with it!
That was
about as good as it got for Cottrell, as he went into Mr Gibbons book not long
after for attempting to start WW3 with the crudest of assaults on the now
mightily bruised Montrose.
WW3 |
Nothing came
from the free kick, but Lloyd did go close ,with 5 minutes of the half left,
and for Chorley, Charnock made a wakes of a decent chance clearing the bar when
a yard or so out.
There was
just time for Minihan to win a corner, and for Jordan to head clear and that
was the first half put to bed!
The first
five minutes of the second half saw both teams having a go , but without
success, Amis’s was the best effort in this period but Ashton was on his
metal and just kept the young forward’s effort out at
the last gasp.
Undeterred…..Amis
went at it again sending Minihan on a run down the right. The cross from Sam
was a tad heavy but Lloyd was able to usher it back inside from beyond the back
post. Chance on again then….but Amis lifted the ball over the bar and it was
gone.
County press..... |
The next
County move started with Hinchliffe moving via Stopforth to Minihan . The
composure of this outfield duo was really impressive, and the corner that
followed was hardly adequate reward for their efforts. It again looked interesting from a County
stand point when the kick came over, as the keeper flapped prodigiously at it
depositing the ball pretty much in Minihan’s lap, but he dragged his shot wide
of goal ,and Chorley had escaped again.
County were
stepping it up a touch now and Hooper was unlucky to see Ashton save his first
time effort on the end of a Lloyd pass. Lloyd was a constant nuisance to
Chorley and Leather looked away from his ` duff Amis up duties’ to sort the
County wide man. His foul however saw him in the book and not long after he was
substituted by a manager anxious I guess to avoid a red card.
Leather booked. |
It was
pretty much all County now, and I was apoplectic ( briefly honest!) to see
Hooper upended . I and others saw this happen inside the box, if perilously
close to being outside, but the referee did not and gave us a free kick. What
came next? Well….I am thinking you can all guess….the kick came over…Amis went
for it…and …yes…. he was penalised for `pushing’.
Amis anguish. |
Amis must
have felt as badly about that one as I did, and his verbals saw him in the
book- a needless booking!
Credit to
young Josh…he continued to put himself about and was only just beaten to
Hinchliffe’s long ball by Ashton not long after.
Jimmy Ball
came on for James Hooper with around 20 minutes left to play, as County
continued to feed on solid defensive work particularly from Clarke who was
winning everything in the air.
Clarke had
just repelled one attack from Chorley when another was mounted and halted by
Hinchliffe.
Hinchliffe to the fore. |
End of then….except no…..the County keeper launched it long toward
Lloyd who had Challinor for company wide left. There was much to do, and it was
all so very very missable, but Lloyd drew the keeper before sending the ball
slowly and surely beyond him into the net. That was a neat finish and the
celebrations started around me as thoughts of a win, thought improbable in some
quarters, now looked on.
Save by Ashton. |
Not long
after, Lloyd was thwarted by Ashton as Minihan pinged over a cross from the
right, whilst Gonzales, for the Magpies, could only head over the bar after good work from Walker had set him up
Into the
last 10 minutes and JG made a double switch….bringing Meppen-Walter and Odejayi
on for Lloyd and Amis.
Minihan and
Stopforth were still in gear and keeping things moving alongside Montrose ,and
with Ball now in the mix some rather neat football ensued from County, although
I felt the Ball’s momentary inclination to start playing `keep ball’ near the
corner flag a tad previous!
County under pressure. |
That said
Ball then went on to bounce a shot off the bar with Ashton nowhere, so what do
I know!
County
pushed on now and Ashton did well to keep Meppen-Walter’s strike out almost
dead on 90 minutes.
Into added
time and Chorley’s attacking moves more and more had the appearance of
desperation about them. Having said that, Roscoe nearly made us pay with a
tasty header that was going in before Hinchliffe’s dive saw him twist in mid
air and tip the ball over the bar.
That was
simply great from Hinchliffe and more followed from others in County away grey
as Chorley desperately tried to square this un-squarable circle!
Soon enough
it was game over and the points were ours.
Make no
mistake…..this was an excellent win…a win against the odds, against a team on
top form.
Well done
all…..it sets us up nicely for another toughy on Saturday against Kidderminster
at Edgeley Park. With home advantage we can sort that one too!
See you
there then!
Finally...did you clock the plane that flew over the ground today?
Here's a reminder ...
Photo by Andrew Machin. |
Well...County had air support today in the form of pilot Chris Moore who
flew over Victory Park this afternoon to take a photo looking down......great
stuff Chris.......
Photo courtesy of Angela Moore. |
Oh…..and for
the next two weeks this report will be published on Sunday morning after the
Saturday games. Thanks for reading this.
Chorley line
up:
Ashton,
Challinor, Jarvis( Beesley 82), Charnock, Leather( Carver 62), Jordan,
Blakeman( Roscoe 90), Whitham, Gonzales, Walker, Cottrell.
Subs not
used: Azam, O’Keefe.
Stockport
County line up;
Hinchliffe,
Ross, Clarke, Smalley, Cartwright, Montrose, Minhan, Stopforth, Amis( Odejayi
82), Hooper( Ball 69), Lloyd( Meppen-Walter 82).
Subs not
used: Ormson, Marsden.
Attendance :
2464
Ian Brown
Comments
Post a Comment