Accrington Stanley 1 Stockport County 3 ( Football League 2 ) Saturday 30 September 2023

“We`re the County, the Mighty County, we always win away!”

And we certainly did today in rainswept Lancashire where they duly took 3 points off John Coleman`s Accrington Stanley team with a 3-1 win.

It looked like being a rain drenched stroll for the blues in a first half dominated by their impressive football and two superb goals by Tanto Olaofe and Will Collar , but despite a penalty scored by Louie Barry making it 3-0 ,County`s` game deteriorated in a welter of personnel changes that saw their previous flowing football replaced with utilitarian defensive play by a clutch of players in blue shirts struggling to get acquainted as Stanley got bolder and bolder in response nicking a goal in the process.

County saw the game out at 3-1 but with Paddy Madden ploughing a lone furrow up front it was far from pretty at times but when push comes to pull it was `job done`…points obtained and vital promotion points too.

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Accrington started fast Wright and Pye sorting matters for the blues eventually.

Sarcevic showed the first of many good touches on 2 minutes shooting narrowly wide for County.

Both teams took turns in probing the other after that, but County looked the outfit likelier to make anything from the exercise- Stanley`s play tentative and hesitant in comparison.

Sarcevic was to the fore again on 9 minutes for County- but his shot, drilled in low and hard, was blocked in the box, Southam- Hales` follow-up chip finding no takers .

Cue Barry and Bailey, and excellent work by the duo saw the ball laid back to Tanto whose fierce drive hugged the ridiculously well-manicured playing surface before beating keeper Jon McCracken at his left hand post!

We were 1-0 up and the now largely sodden County following celebrated the fact loudly.

County`s football was getting more and more impressive and the effect on some in red was less than good to see- Rosair Longelo fortunate not to receive more than a quick word from Referee Tom Reeves for a poor foul on Southam- Hales.

We made nothing of the free kick, but much….much more of what came next…… a loose ball ……….and Sarcevic was onto it in a flash following this up with a pass of great precision into the path of Will Collar.

Collar was away, but he was some way from goal thus there was loads to do when he received the pass, but he did it well replicating Tanto`s finish earlier tucking a fine shot low into the left-hand corner of McCracken`s goal!

We were 2-0 up and seemingly coasting!

But we weren`t coasting but seeking a third – Barry sent scurrying along the by-line by a lovely back healed pass from Tanto. The effort by Barry was blocked- the offside flag ending this portion of Stanley`s pain.

Things got a touch hectic for a while next- the home keeper escaping unscathed from a momentary lapse ……Wright heading Whalley`s corner clear for County.

But Tanto was still in prime form linking with Southam- Hales to create a chance for Barry who was lurking menacingly near goal- he put his shot wide which was disappointing.

County went on to dominate the rest of the half but without raising the temperature at all- yes they still looked in charge and were the better team by a fair margin but the teams went in at half time with the blues still leading 2-0.

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Half Time Entertainment comes from Del Amitri- a blast from the past enjoy!

https://youtu.be/Nox57hdgeAU?si=RN3kVz9DYNGQKzeg

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The second half started with County on the attack, Barry racing clear onto another excellent pass by Sarcevic. He was in full flight and then he wasn`t as Quirk had taken his legs.

The attack was halted as in clattering Barry, Quirk had injured himself being replaced by Lowe pretty soon after.

Pye joined the fray winning County a corner, but this was cleared without much ado by Stanley, who were showing signs of revival – Whalley`s shot on the turn saved comfortably by Hinchliffe with 5 minutes gone of the half.

It went on as Hills sent a header over the bar, what I took to be a spirited rally on Stanleys` part seemingly ending with a lively break by substitute Josh Woods and Whalley which County eventually sorted.

We were close on the hour when matters took a turn for the better again for the blues and it again involved Barry and Bailey who continues to impress me with all he does. Then quickly and accurately the ball was slung over to the right flank where Southam- Hales had it under control without delay, sending a teasing cross midst a convoluted gathering of red and blue shirts in the box. One of them was worn by Bailey but as he went for the ball there was contact twixt him and a defender sending the County man to the floor.

Nine out of ten of those don`t attract a penalty, this was the tenth apparently and Mr Reeves pointed to the spot much to the dismay of the Stanley players.

No matter, it was a penalty…no VAR thankfully, so no endless dithering and Louie Barry stepped up to do the biz placing his kick firmly to McCracken`s left into the net- we were 3-0 up and Barry had his seventh in seven !

The game restarted with Accrington seeking to reply but their raid was nicely foreshortened by a neat intervention by Sarcevic who then added to his kudos with a superb ball to Tanto who proceeded to run at speed into home territory.

It was definitely `game on` and Tanto looked the biz until a vital tackle from Hills stopped the rot for Stanley winning the ball off Tanto`s toes.

County were not done, neither was Tanto and another raking run from him tore great holes in the home defence. But the defenders rallied and tracked back well enough to block Tanto`s path to goal forcing him to play the ball back to someone in blue. The someone was Sarcevic and he managed to get a shot in- not a bad one either but it missed out narrowly.

The attacking continued from County the ball flying nicely from Croasdale to Collar and then on to Tanto whose tasty run down the left gained a corner- but Hills headed this clear.

More followed from County though as Bailey went close after a Collar / Barry link up had won a corner.

With less than 15 minutes normal time left, presumably with Tuesday`s game in mind, Barry and Tanto were substituted, their places taken by Madden and Richardson.

This seemed to light Stanleys` fuse and Hinchliffe did well to claw out a header from Andrews a couple of minutes later.

County were under pressure suddenly and apparently Stanley fancied their chances of getting something from a game seemingly lost!

Corners came and went for John Coleman`s team with no result- Hills disappointing the home specs by leaning back to send his volley high and wide with 8 minutes left.

Next off we saw Sarcevic and Bailey replaced by Cotteril and Pond, Bailey leaving to heartwarming reception from the County supporters as he headed for the dressing rooms- Collar being replaced by Mee not long after!

In between those substitutions, with County defending grimly now, Accrington did manage to reduce the arrears through Jack Nolan.

The pressure from Stanley continued with time running out not as fast as we would like- Hinchliffe on his toes thankfully tipping a speculative lob ( that was heading for the top corner) by Longelo over the bar at the very last gasp!

The seven minutes of added time saw County back in their last third defending with Hinchliffe working overtime to keep the score as it was- Ben up to push a corner clear only for it to come back via Nolan whose effort was pushed for another corner.

Accrington just kept pressing….pumping high balls back into the box for Hinchliffe to deal with -the corners continuing until , at last , Mr Reeves ended the game!

County had won and had deserved to although the wholesale changes late on, whilst done for understandable reasons, caused us no end of difficulty in a match we looked to have put to bed with less than a quarter of an hour left.

No matter, 3 vital points gained well done County!

Here`s to 3 more on Tuesday against Forest Green at Edgeley Park!

See you there then!

Accrington Stanley line up :-

McCracken , Shipley ( J Woods 46) , Mellor ( Quirk 46 /Lowe 49), Hills , Whalley ( Nolan 78) , B Woods , Pritchard , Longelo , Gubbins ( Pickles 46) , Leigh , Andrews .

Subs not used : McIntyre , Martin.

Stockport County line up ;-

Hinchliffe , Southam -Hales , Wright, Horsfall , Pye , Croasdale , Collar ( Mee 86) , Sarcevic ( Cotterill 84) , Bailey ( Pond 84) , Olaofe ( Madden 72) , Barry ( Richardson 72).

Subs not used : Smith , Johnson.

Attendance : 3913 ( 1901)

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A couple of shots from hedgegrowers phone camera...