Swindon Town 0 Stockport County 1 ( Football League 2) Saturday 25 March 2023
As the man says- it`s really all about winning, getting the points and County did that at the County Ground today against Swindon Town, but they made fantastically hard work of it considering they played well over 90 minutes against 10 men.
In the end they were seen home, and their blushes were spared, via a terrific run from Rydel and a superb finish from County`s clear Man of the Match Ryan Croasdale late on.
But for much of an awful game a visit to Calamity City looked on the cards as County totally failed to press home their numerical advantage after Jacob Wakeling had been red-carded before one minute had elapsed.
The penalty was wasted, as were numerous free kicks thereafter as we looked for someone…anyone in blue/white who might run at their opponents and put them under pressure.
It took until the 80th minute for this to be put into practise by County as Rydel, just about for the first time, ran clear and at speed down the left setting the excellent Croasdale up for a face saving winner of regular striker quality!
So, back to what that man said again and County did the biz eventually in that respect but the performance left a lot to be desired and signals a hard slog here on out if we are to maintain our promotion push!
…………………………………….
Lou got us all to the County Ground in good time to give us another welcome look at the brilliantly loopy `Magic Roundabout`……
Inside the stadium I was struck with how nothing had changed in 13 years, the away block seating stood out starkly -a veritable desert of basic seating midst a verdant expanse of pristine red seats everywhere else- then I bought a couple of programmes and saw that something had altered- Swindon were asking an eye-watering £4 per copy which I felt was a massive rip-off!
Never mind, County would see us right on the park would they not!
That thought sustained me in the hour before kick off as the large County following of 700+ began to take up position to cheer their team on.
Then the game started in a breathless flurry of excitement as well before the first minute was out County mounted an attack that looked pretty lethal as the ball flew from Wootton to Madden to Evans and on to Knoyle who was darting clear on goal when Wakeling brought him down from behind. It was a goal scoring opportunity and Mr Young the Referee had no choice but to award the penalty and then send the miscreant off- he did both, and we all thought we would have the lead in a heartbeat as Madden stepped up to take the kick, but he disappointed badly his kick being comfortably saved by Sol Brynn the home keeper.
The home specs were suitably `cock-a-hoop` at this and Rushian Hepburn- Murphy looked to feed on the emotion of the moment by flinging himself to the ground in the box in dramatic fashion. I have to say it was a belting dive, but again Mr Young was not fooled silencing the baying home crowd conclusively by booking the hyphenated Swindon defender for the dive ( but it was a good one!)
Despite the disappointment of the penalty miss I felt that with application and a dash of inspiration we could win this game and win it well, but the early spark was already gone by 8- or 9-minutes in.
The 10th saw Wootton go close with a quick shot on the turn, but other than that there was nothing of note coming from Dave Challinor`s men at all at this stage.
County did get a free kick following a foul on Wootton on 12 minutes but were unable to hit the target from same and that would be a recurring occurrence match long as free kick`s came and went with depressing regularity with no effect on the scoreline.
Knoyle had a run, Evans a shot but both missed out and when we won another free kick for a foul on Rydel I thought we had a second chance to take the lead, but Camps` kick was a poor one and the chance was gone!
County were getting forward it was just that invariably the final ball would leave a lot to be desired giving Brynn routine catching practice to boot.
We were beyond half way now and…was I miss reading the situation….were 10 man Swindon daring to be more expansive?
Surely not, but that said Knoyle had to pull out all the stops to block Blake-Tracy`s run one moment and then do likewise to thwart the much-heralded Charlie Austin minutes later.
Wootton was inches away from getting to a long ball by Hussey on 28 minutes- Khan, with Brynn, doing sufficient to keep him out- the keeper emerging again to deal firmly with Madden`s follow up.
It went on – Brynn beating Wootton to another Hussey ball on 30 minutes, Madden winning possession 2 minutes later only to see Rydel`s final ball waste the opportunity.
Then, we entered the half`s last 5 minutes with Swindon looking to put County under some pressure, Hepburn-Murphy`s break foiled as Hutton failed to shake off Hussey`s attentions.
That had all come to pass after County had won possession and made precious little use of it.
County then were happy to concede a corner as Austin and Hutton put them under pressure and County did nothing to ease the angst eventually adding to the pressure by giving away a free kick- Hinchliffe held the kick by McEachran with some comfort.
But it was disconcerting to see this pattern repeated almost bang on half time as County reacted to a run by Tomlinson by fouling him gifting our hosts with a nicely central scoring opportunity- Wright headed Hutton`s kick out to end our angst on this occasion , only to have to step up to the plate again in added time with a superb intervention to block a run by Austin as he darted in down the middle.
That last action as brilliant as it turned out, would not have been necessary had Lewis not ,within very little time indeed after coming on for the injured Byrne, run himself and his team into trouble and Austin into possession.
We needed to sharpen up all round, and Rydel emphasised my point by getting himself booked and putting County under the cosh with first half time almost up. Hutton made a wakes of the kick that followed but for me the point was still valid.
……………………………..
We were looking for an altogether better showing from County in the second half but whilst Wootton continued to strive for improvement, he was again inches from success as Rydel`s cross pinged in 3 minutes into the half.
But I was wincing visibly next seeing Lewis`s poor foul set Swindon up for a crack at Hinchliffe`s goal. In the event Swindon again wasted the opportunity.
Then, more classic drama as Madden sent Knoyle running onto a through ball in the box. Brynn also wanted the ball and just about won the race with a confident claim, only to spoil the moment by opting to play the drama queen and feign injury encouraging those who needed no such encouragement ,namely those behind his goal and to his right in the big stand , to join a chorus requiring Mr Young to wave red in Knoyle`s direction. He did no such thing and again came away with full marks for me, even though I did not think the yellow Knoyle actually received was justified either!
Then Croasdale emerged to almost silence the un-silenceable by creating space for himself in the home box where none seemed to exist before hitting a shot goal ward that Brynn did well to keep out!
County were pressing again winning a free kick in the process only to waste it again much to their supporters` irritation- Khan going close to making us pay for the slack work in the follow-up.
The pressure kept coming from County and the free kicks without there ever being a moment when we thought `here`s when we nick that first goal`- we were still not pressing home our set pieces.
The hour mark saw good work from Evans ruined by a poor effort by Knoyle missing the target by a distance.
This was a desperately untidy game littered with badly taken free kicks, fouls and bookings including one of the Swindon bench possibly Jody Morris the Town Head Coach- for sure Mr Young was earning his pay today!
Back came County through Croasdale whose power and energy gained County a corner after Swindon had failed to clear Hussey`s free kick. Camps` shot from this was charged down and a careless foul by the blues ended the raid.
With 25 minutes left we now had Rowe and Stretton on for Wright and Evans but there was no immediate improvement in County`s output as Hussey twice ended runs by firing a loose shot wide of Brynn`s far post, and a Lewis long ball was neatly laid off by Wootton to Madden who then lifted the ball disappointingly over the bar.
On it went into the last 20 minutes with Brynn saving another effort from Croasdale.
There were 17 minutes left and it was still 0-0, we still needed to sharpen our work up but instead Hussey`s clumsy foul put us under the cosh again albeit briefly – the upraised liner`s flag saving the day for County indicating offside.
Lewis did well on 76 minutes to block Hepburn -Murphy, but we were still constantly taking the pressure OFF our opponents by conceding free kicks – and we still hadn`t really run at them with any resolve…..
….and then we did…..as from one such Swindon free kick County had their supporters on their feet with the sight of Rydel flying down the left flank trailing red shirts in his wake. Reaching the edge of the box he fired the ball in low and hard for the admirable Ryan Croasdale to apply the most excellent of finishes by beating the keeper comprehensively!
It was a belting goal, and OK…it was about time too, but full credit especially to Rydel and Croasdale- they stuck it out and produced the goods eventually!
Meanwhile, Swindon won a corner…wasted it, and Wootton headed wide after Stretton had stretched the home left flank.
Into the last 5 minutes of normal time we went with County almost giving their advantage away with another poor free kick that almost set Town up on the break.
Another 2 minutes and fantastic play by Croasdale in front of the old main stand set County`s support alight and snuffed out Swindon`s attempts at breaking clear down the left.
Swindon kept trying – Hepburn- Murphy and McEachran both failing to capitalise as crosses pinged over from the right.
I might have expected Tanto to come on for Madden perhaps midway through the second half with County not being able to run at their opponents with any regularity, but Madden stayed on until the 90th minute when he was replaced by Davenport!
Hinchliffe had to look lively in added time with Lewis under pressure from Hepburn- Murphy but that was about the limit of the half chances to emerge in the 5 minutes added.
Mr Young eventually blew for time to signal a full haul of points for County- undeniably a good result if the manner of obtaining same was less so.
We go again for sure, starting with Salford at Edgeley Park on Friday, whilst looking for County to improve and get back on track in the promotion race.
Another full house will help of course but that does not guarantee a positive result.
But we stay supportive, if constructively critical, and we`ll all be there on Friday wont we?!
Swindon Town line up : Brynn , Hutton , McEachran , Tomlinson ( Jephcott 84) , Williams ( Darcy 64), Austin ( Lavinier 45), Brewitt , Hepburn – Murphy , Blake- Tracy ( Clayton 84), Khan , Wakeling.
Subs not used : Copland , Cain , Kadji.
Stockport County line up:-
Hinchliffe , Knoyle , Wright ( Rowe 65) , Byrne ( Lewis 45), Hussey , Croasdale , Camps , Evans ( Stretton 65), Madden ( Davenport 90), Wootton.
Subs not use , Jones , R Johnson , Ilaofe.
Attendance : 9446 ( 714)
hedgegrower
some images from hedgegrower`s phone…….
Comments
Post a Comment