Accrington Stanley 1 Stockport County 4 Bristol Street Motors Trophy Northern Group A( Tuesday 3 September 2024)

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end a convincing win for the Hatters in this first group game of this seasons EFL Trophy that had not looked likely at all during the first half of the game where a lively Accrington side took an early lead and looked good value for it whilst County laboured and could have been even further behind but for some poor finishing from the Stanley shooters.

 

A Jack Stretton double in as many minutes turned that scoreline on its head and further second half goals from Callum Camps and Louie Barry (who else) completed the evenings work.

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A crisp evening in Lancashire got underway on what looked like a greasy surface.

 

Some early probings from County came to nothing .

 

Accrington looked decidely on the front foot and on 7 minutes Ash Hunter found himself in space on the left of the penalty area and gave Ben Hinchliffe no chance with a good finish. 

 

Another punted ball into County's penalty area looked to be collected by Ben who slipped on the surface to watch the ball thankfully drift wide. 

 

Staying upright seemed to be a challenge for players of both sides-Jack Diamond who was my player of the match embarked on a lung busting run skipping several challanges but gaining no reward.

 

A loose ball from Jayden Fevrier found the home side`s Costelloe who shot wide but Accrington continued to look the brighter side. 

 

Tanto was flagged offside when it looked anything but next,a Jack Stretton effort ending with a throw for County that rapidly became a corner. Bailey's corner came to nothing. 

 

The damp surface claimed another victim when Costelleo hit the turf with no opposition within 5 yards of him. A bad tackle on Tanto resulted in a free kick that led to another corner but Norwood's kick was well claimed by the the home keeper Billy Crellin. 

 

A mistimed tackle led to a yellow yard for Nick Powell that Mr Jackson deemed card worthy. 

 

Tyler Onyango was seeing a lot of the ball for the visitors and I felt did well after a slightly shaky performance at Mansfield last weekend...... NIck Powell being mugged in a similar event to the one he had perpatrated a few minuites earlier but Scott Jackson failed to trouble his card collection.

 

Further aggravation for Powell when a whipped in ball from Norwood looked odds on to score but it was not to be.  Finally Mr Jackson did produce a yellow card for Ben Woods following a foul on Odin Bailey.

Then....a ball into the Accrington penalty area found Jack Stretton whose first time volley found the back of the net. Within a another minute he repeated the act from an Odin Bailey ball and the visitors found themselves in front possibly against the run of play. 

 

Delighted for Strett's in his first competetive game in over a year. Jack Diamond had yet another run and shot that just failed to find its target. Mr Jackson brandished a card into the air on 41 minutes for what we don't know but the records show that the recepiant was Olly Norwood. Costelleo yet again continued his facination with the Lancashire turf by assuming the horizontal position to no avail. A minute of added time concluded the first half.

                     

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Woot's for Strett's and Camps for Powell and O'Brien for Quirk for the home side were the changes at the  start of the second half, the ultra greasy pitch having received a copious watering at the break from the sprinklers. 

 

An early booking for Horsfall and a half hearted penalty appeal for the home side introduced us to the second half. 

 

An Accrington corner kick was punched clear by Ben Hinchliffe........a whipped in free kick by Olly Norwood saw the home keeper eventually collect the ball albeit a clear yard outside his penalty area but none of the officials appeared to have spotted this. 

 

County were starting to turn the screw and the manager`s half time talk couped with a couple of changes saw the improvement.

However a rocket shot from distance by the home side pole axed Oli Patrick who saved Ben the trouble of making a save. A great run by Tyler Onyango just saw Kyle Wooton judged offside before on the hour mark Tanto was replaced by Will Collar. 

 

A half hearted shout for a penalty for a foul on Odin Bailey did not impress Mr Jackson. 

 

The 72nd minute saw a shot from Nelson Khumbeni that continues to transverse the Northern skies as I  write this and he took his fraustration out on Will Collar with a rather silly push.

Louie Barry replaced Jayden Fevier on 79 minutes and within 3 minutes Callum Camps extended the visitors lead when he headed home a parry by the home keeper. 

 

A foul by Billy Crellin in the home goal on Kyle Wooton was in time honoured fashiion given against him much to the ire of the decent following from Cheshire and an interplay between Woot's and Barry should have resulted in one of them adding to the scoreline but a corner was the result that led to nothing. 

 

A rare forage into the Stockport half led to a good save from Hinchliffe, the resulting corner led to nothing as the game reached its dying embers. Well, nobody told Louie Barry who embarked on a trade mark run down the left channel from Diamond's pass and curled in a goal bound shot which extended Stockport's lead on 90 minutes.

Mr Jackson concluded matters after 4 minutes of added time. A good run out for pretty much everybody who was available and fit and after a staid first half the quality showed. Brilliant to see Jack Stretton fit and scoring and also big shout out to Accrington Stanley whose hospitality was excellent.

Stockport County:

Hinchiffe,Horsfall, Diamond, Olaofe (Collar 61), Fevrei (Barry 79) , Powell (Camps 46), Pye, Stretton ( Wooton 46), Onyango, Norwood, Bailey  Subs not used: Metcalfe, Mapengu, Watson

Referee: Scott Jackson

Att:791 

Adrian Caville