All Things Stockport County

Stockport County’s gallant bid to gain promotion to the Vanarama National, fell at the very last hurdle today, when the blues could only manage a 1-1 draw against a doughty , hard working Gloucester City side. County knew they needed a win, but even with Chorley losing they fell just one point short of their goal. County took the lead shortly after the hour, via a Danny Lloyd penalty, but one goal was just never going to be enough against a visiting side that, having scored a considerable psychological advantage by making County kick towards the Cheadle End first off, then preceded to play as though they meant it. They earned a card or three in the process, and some of their defending was a touch basic, but they did enough up front to ensure County’s minds were on not conceding as much as scoring, and in that last department again…Lloyd apart, no one in blue really showed up with the necessary bite to square the circle for County. Lloyd + shadow ( Andrew Machin )

County kept their promotion chances alive , with a muck and nettles performance today against a combative Bradford Park Avenue side at the sun drenched Horsfall Stadium.   For much of this tense tussle, with both teams defending like tigers and looking short on fire power, a 0-0 draw looked an odds on certainty. County ,with Harry Brazel showing up well on his first full start, and usual suspects Montrose, Clarke and Lloyd again doing a shift, probably had more of the play in the first half but shared Avenue's inability to nick a goal. Good game for Harry Brazel ! We had to wait until late on for   the goals that made the difference and kept County's play off dreams alive, and they came as a result of JG's late substitutions. Gonzales and Amis were brought on for Ball and Odejayi, and substitute Amis scored one not long after     and had a substantial hand in the other from Lloyd that sealed the win. Back at kick off time, or thereabouts, the