Chorley 3 Stockport County 0 ( Vanarama National League) 7 September 2019
It was not a great day at the office
for County today, at Victory Park, where Chorley inflicted a 3-0 defeat on
them.
There seemed to be a massive reaction
to a run of stamina sapping / nerve end shredding games the blues have put away
recently. This reaction was almost entirely a negative one as, apart from
Thomas, it was below par performances all round as far as County were
concerned.
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| Thomas - my M.O.M . |
Defensive errors served to underline
the parity of County`s showing, in a game that it was hard to argue anything other
than Chorley deserved to win.
That said-we were always going to
lose games at this level, in our first season back, and nobody likes losing,
but we just have to swallow it, and come back again with renewed fire and
recharged batteries- something that, under JG`s wing County are well capable of
doing!
It was 3 at the back for the blues (
Cowan/ Palmer / Keane) with Minihan and Jackson operating as wing backs , with
a start for Joe Piggott as play got underway with Chorley attacking.
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| Keano ( Andrew Machin ) |
There was no place for Bell, which
surprised me, although he was on the bench.
An early shot from Holroyd, who was
to prove a pain all afternoon, took a deflection for a corner, early doors, which
Osborne headed out.
It was all `vicars tea party` stuff
after that action, with no real hint of what was to come- that is to say, a
sizeable County calamity as an intended clearance was charged down into the
path of Holroyd who made no mistake from close in.
 |
| Holrord make it 0-1 ( Andrew Machin ) |
One down within 5 minutes was not
great, but there was time to put matters right!
County`s response to this setback
was disjointed though, as whilst Thomas
was making himself available big time,
the tight cover offered by the home back line, in which the usual suspects
Meppen- Walter, Teague and Leather looked impassable, ensured there was nothing
in the way of affective support materialising from Adam`s colleagues.
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| Thomas- working 100% all the time ! |
A foul on Jackson, 10 minutes in,
offered up a notional chance, but this was caught by Crellin in the Chorley
goal, to end any thoughts of a quick equaliser.
 |
| Jackson early on ( Andrew Machin ) |
Another free kick , just 1 minute
later, again put Chorley under pressure , but this was but briefly , the raid
foundering on Meppen- Walter`s head, and this was to be a recurring theme throughout
the game – County lifting balls high at Chorley, for Meppen- Walter , Teague or
Leather to feed hungrily off.
But…perhaps I was being hyper
critical, as County again had a free kick, as Walker was fouled whilst trying
to instil life into a County raid that was fading fast. Turnbull took this,
Palmer reached it but headed the ball wide.
 | |
| Palmer`s header ( Andrew Machin ) |
A period of blue pressure ended with
Thomas`s cross whizzing across the face of goal with no takers. This cross was
from the left, much of Thomas`s earlier work had been on the right- he was
putting in a tremendous shift already!
A response was due from our hosts,
and it came in quantity with Challinor and Alex Newby organising things. The
pressure was on the blues and both Palmer and Walker got good defensive headers
in to stem the tide.
Thomas meanwhile, was back on the
right, and a feisty tussle twixt him and Leather, ended in the defender`s favour, but
not by much!
 |
| Feisty but fair- Thomas v Leather ! |
Then Chorley came back at us, through
Newby only for him to shoot wide after getting in behind County`s cover.
Oh…and Thomas was still plugging
away, his cross 21 minutes in, being held confidently by Crellin.
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| Good catch by Crellin ! |
Then, on 25 minutes, County spilled
possession again allowing Challinor to send Holroyd in again to double the home
side`s advantage.
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| 2-0, Holroyd again ( Andrew Machin ) |
That was a blow, County did try to
respond, 4 minutes elapsing in which they probed for an opening without success,
but this was followed by a mix up twixt Cowan and Hinchliffe that could have
been costly with Newby about. It cost a corner, and this was cleared, but it
again did not augur well for the remainder of the game.
We needed the blues to focus, as they
have been doing game after game thus far this season, but instead the ball was
given away again, being fired over from the right to where Carver lurked in
front of goal. It was a shoo in, but somehow the big forward contrived to put
his header over the bar.
A let off for sure!
We were beyond 30 minutes now, and
County were trying to sort the situation, but Crellin was continuing to get in
their way- catching Jackson`s cross, under pressure from Piggott, on 31 minutes.
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| Crellin foils Piggott ! |
A foul on Thomas by Meppen-Walter,
ushered in hopes of County nicking one back, but despite Piggott going to
ground in the box, a penalty was never really on, and with half time nearing,
it was still 2-0 to Chorley.
 |
| No pen ! |
Much Chorley pressure followed –
Newby`s cross disappointing the incredibly quiet locals after he had done the
hard work to get himself in a decent position.
A free kick on the edge of the box increased
County`s anxiety, and it took much good work under pressure from Turnbull
mainly, to keep Newby at bay.
 |
| Heads- its Turnbull ! |
With 5 minutes left of the half,
eventually County replied through Thomas whose exuberant running forced Leather
to concede a corner. This should have offered County an opportunity to at least
put Crellin under pressure, but instead I looked left to see Cowan do wonders
to cut O`Keefe off as the flag kick saw the Magpies fashion a break from
nowhere.
That was pretty much it as far as the
first half was concerned, and the hope was for better things from County after
the break.
Now some crowd shots :-
And some from Andrew Machin :-
When the teams re-emerged for the
second half, Bell was on for Jackson, and it looked like we had reverted to a
back four, with the versatile Cowan now on the left.
The early moments offered hope, as
Bell was inches from Thomas`s latest offering, kept from it by a clutch of
defenders.
 |
| Bell and markers ( Andrew Machin ) |
Thomas was continuing to be a blue
beacon midst the storm but try as he might, he could not prevent O`Keefe from tracking
back and making the clearance to foil County`s latest raid.
County pressed for a while after that
action, but a break from deep by O`Keefe seemed to scupper the blues as Cottrell
went down under pressure from Bell giving Chorley a free kick in a central
position. It was a decent chance, and you would not put it past the old war
horse to put it away, but instead Meppen-Walter lifted his kick out of the
ground!
 | |
| Looked a chance- wasn`t ! |
Perhaps buoyed by the escape, County
rallied, but Bell`s run was thwarted by Challinor`s good work. Teague joined
in, making light work of keeping Piggott out after Thomas had force O`Keefe to
concede a corner.
 | |
| Bell and company..... |
The blues kept pressing though, but
despite Minihan winning a corner, good defensive work from Leather and Meppen-
Walter eventually saw off the danger for the men in black and white.
And County kept trying- Crellin not
cooperating at all by holding onto Bell`s shot.
 | |
| Crellin save on the way , from Bell ! |
Unfortunately however, they were also
now giving free kicks away, and it was fortunate for County , that Chorley were
proving hopeless at executing these-the latest from Newby flying straight into
Hinchliffe grateful arms.
Osborne headed wide, with about 20
minutes left, but the free kick`s were racking up for Chorley, the latest being
worked short by Alex Newby and Challinor ,only for Baines to head over the bar
on the end of it.
 |
| Osborne- a relatively quiet game ( he was due one!) |
With 15 minutes left JG replaced Minihan
with Curran, and in rapid order I imagined things were on the upturn as County
surged onto the attack, but it was an illusion as shots from both Bell and Osborne
were comfortably held by the home keeper.
 |
| Curran on ( Andrew Machin ) |
Two things enlivened the scene , with
10 minutes left, first off Crellin treated
us to a horrendous fumble , under pressure from Bell- a free kick to Chorley
soon ended my interest, only for it to be ignited again with a PA announcement
that “ all pies were now £1.50”, as Crellin made a routine catch from a Piggott
effort.
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| Fumble under pressure by Crellin. |
I had had my pie( meat and potato)
circa 2 o’clock, but I could imagine others would be simply unable to resist
the offer!
No matter, County had defending to do, and an almighty scramble ensued in the box as a sliced clearance put Hinchliffe under pressure- it was a close thing and very nearly 0-3....
 |
| close call ( Andrew Machin ) |
But…..County now had Dimaio on for
Osborne for the last 5 minutes , but surely the game was Chorley`s at this
stage!
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| Dimaio for Osborne ( Andrew Machin ) |
Certainly if County continued to give
the ball away it would be, but Carver`s shot twanged the bar after he had
glided clear down the left.
Then late substitute Elliott Newby
was played through, but Palmer was on top of it and blocked his man. A corner
followed, but the pain was eased for County by a free kick with Chorley wanting
a third.
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| County under pressure |
Six minutes added time was announced (
what about the pies I urgently enquired to myself)as Piggott headed over from a
Thomas cross.
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| Piggott kept out ( Andrew Machin ) |
Into added time we went with Chorley
still looking for that third goal, but Hinchliffe held onto Baines` shot on 93
minutes.
Another 2 minutes and that Chorley
wish was satiated, as with County failing to clear, Elliott Newby took
advantage to drill a neat shot home.
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| 3-0 ( Andrew Machin ) |
It was 3-0 and there was no time to
sort it now.
Thomas did try of course, but a foul
on him, and a free kick, failed to get even a small reward for the blues.
Game over…..locals overjoyed…County
chastened, but with rested limbs and James on the case ,do not bet against a
County response on Saturday against Aldershot- in fact rely on it!
See you there.
Meanwhile please consider supporting
this lad , County fan, Jeremy Mirams, in tomorrow`s Hatters Half Marathon.
You can do this here:-
Chorley line up:-
Crellin, Challinor, Teague, Leather (
Ross 78), Meppen-Walter, Baines, A Newby ( Doods 85), O`Keefe , Carver, Holroyd
( E Newby 88), Cottell.
Subs not used : Massanka, Blakeman.
Stockport County line up:-
Hinchliffe, Cowan, Palmer, Keane,
Minihan ( Curran 75), Jackson ( Bell 45), Turnbull, Walker, Thomas, Piggott,
Osborne( Dimaio 85).
Subs not used : Ormson, Arthur.
Attendance: 2693 ( 1220)
hedgegrower
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