Stockport County 1 Wrexham 0 ( Football League 1 ) Saturday 16 November 2024

 

 

 

 

 

County turned on a performance of the very best quality today to dispose of the challenge from  Wrexham- a side that looked outclassed by Dave Challinor`s team whose application, nous and superlative game management won the day with more to spare than the scoreline suggests.

The Welsh side staged their traditional late rally in the last 20 minutes, but never really came close to spoiling a County party that ended with them , deservedly, claiming all the available points!

The early minutes were the only time County might have been at all concerned –as Referee Tom Kirk booked 3 County players in the first 20 minutes for @@@ger all.

Thankfully there was a fulsome measure of karma upcoming from the last of these bookings, that of Louie  Barry , when he danced into space to score another goal of the season contender almost immediately after the booking!

As I say ,until the last 20 minutes it was pretty much County on the attack  and in charge- they were pushed back a good deal late on when their cohesion was disrupted by a raft of understandable substitutions, but the impenetrable barrier they erected twixt Wrexham and Ben between the sticks for County, ensured he recorded yet another clean sheet!

So , another excellent team performance- one capped by a brilliant showing from Lewis Bate who was immense today-a word for  Callum Connolly too – I thought he had his best game for us yet – solid at the back and a pain to Wrexham going forward- the quality of his passing at the sharp end top draw !

Nothing much separated the rest of the County team – who all performed to max requirements, but I again got particular joy watching Ryan Rydel and Macauley Southam- Hales continue their rehabilitation via the sharpest of tests – and they both came through magnificently!

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The first 5 minutes saw Wrexham flatter to deceive their supporters on the Pop Side- a trademark `up and under` into the box getting Palmer overly excited but he could only manage an involuntary chesting of the ball on to John Dadi Bodvarsson whose bike kick failed also allowing Ethan Pye to usher the ball back to Ben in County`s goal.

 

 

Then, a couple of minutes later we saw the Referee fail to read the Wrexham script- they are a side that `likes a lie- down`, no one more so than their captain James Mc Clean ,and that`s what he did with Southam- Hales on his case. The ref bought the theatricals and duly booked the blue shirted Welsh Genius  much to the ire of the near capacity home crowd.

Horsfall headed the free kick clear which was routine…and good…what wasn`t was that within a minute of that action  he was in Mr Kirk`s book for what looked like a fair challenge  as Cannon looked to break down County`s left.

McClean`s header from the free kick was easily dealt with by Hinchliffe , who got the home specs excited by sending the ball up the park for Barry to latch onto. He did so pretty quickly before ferreting his way into the box where his progress was cut short by a defender`s tackle that sent him thudding to the ground- Mr Kirk was not interested in giving a penalty!

County began to impose themselves after that last action- Pye with an interesting run into the box…..Norwood unlucky with a pass for Southam- Hales to chase- both efforts did not trouble Callum Burton the Wrexham keeper- Wootton got closer to doing so a couple of minutes later but it remained 0-0.

We had reached the 20-minute mark before anything else of note occurred, but it again involved Mr Kirk writing a name in his book- another County name as Cannon went all `dying swan` crashing to the ground with Barry to his rear- the ref wasting no time at all in waving a yellow card in Louie`s direction.

The free kick from Wrexham was poor and County made them pay dearly . There was more than a smidgeon of karma about the next action started by some majestic football from County that came to a climax with Connolly and Southam-Hales pushing the Welsh side onto the back foot – a pass inside to Norwood seeing his shot charged down near the edge of the box.

Chance gone?......Nah !!!!!!.....not a bit of it….Barry was probably still mulling the card bit over in his mind,  when the ball came his way and he did what he does best-leathering a sweetly swerving ball beyond Burton into the Wrexham net!

County had the lead – Barry had yet another candidate for `goal of the season`.

Excellent flowing football oozed from County after the goal- a second would not surprise at all- instead Burton was just able to get finger tips to a cruelly dipping effort by Connolly who I thought was looking in good nick!

On it went- County`s momentum  increasing by the minute -more so when Dan Scarr pulled Horsfall down in the box just beyond 30 minutes. I thought this a cast iron , nailed on ( can you nail Iron ?) penalty , but Mr K thought otherwise, and Wrexham were saved!

There was no let up either- County kept the Welsh side pinned back in their own half- Collar at last showing signs- twice going close- almost squeezing the ball home after stealing possession in the box .

 A corner came from that as the keeper did his job to thwart him, and Collar forced another flag kick that saw Horsfall head the ball firmly but wide.

Back came County -excellent work from Connolly as he linked with Bate who sent Barry scurrying into the box again. He was blocked and the ball was cleared ,but there was more than a suggestion in the air that a second County goal could maybe be not far away.

Then more excitement, as Barry darted into the box once more- he had 3 men on him( not that unusual I hear you cry, and you are correct)and he was bundled down in a trice to noticeably increase the home specs excitement factor, but the expected penalty did not materialise , so it stayed 1-0 to County.

But County did not look to be letting their momentum slip, and a run by Rydel had the EP  home crowd roaring again . It was a decent run, and the cross was arguably better, and it fell to Norwood who made a good fist of doing something with it- unlucky to see his shot rise narrowly over the bar at the packed Railway End.

County kept plugging away- Rydel foiled by Burton`s quick reactions that stopped Ryan`s run deep into Wrexham`s last third.

Rydel was on fire as the half neared its end with the blues winning a late free kick. Rydel took this and I have said how pleasing it is that he is back playing again giving us the benefit of his brilliant set pieces and his latest picked out Wootton whose flick on for Rydel was thwarted by more prompt action on the part of Wrexham keeper Callum Burton who ensured it stayed 1-0 to County at half time.

 

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County  attacked the Cheadle End when the game re-started.

Wrexham wasting no time on niceties keeping it simple…finding touch….Scarr conceding a corner when under the cosh that saw Pye`s header narrowly miss out.

Connolly by this juncture, was in good form, an excellent ball from him sending Southam- Hales surging into the box , where Scarr`s outstretched leg saved Wrexham`s bacon.

County looked to be very much in charge, but Collar chose to go down ( not altogether convincingly) upon arrival in the box on a run and Mr K was no more impressed than myself- it wasn`t a penalty!

Momentum was building from County- Barry to the fore , 7 minutes into the half, his shot palmed around a post by Burton. The keeper flapped as the corner came over- Scarr putting the ball out of play with County on his case.

Cleworth joined in, finding touch as a tasty ball from Connolly pinged in from the right.

It was probably sensible policy from Wrexham`s viewpoint to rely on the basics , and as County made little or nothing from the resultant throws , it was a policy that was working for the Welsh side!

We just needed County to add a degree of ruthlessness to the obvious quality of their approach play , but the next action , despite a gruesome melee in front of Wrexham`s goal, kept it at 1-0 as the ball disappeared out of play again following the swing of a Welsh boot.

We  went beyond the hour in a blaze of top-quality football from County. Bate was to the fore – brilliant play by him ending with a Southam- Hales shot being ushered around a post by Burton.

On….on it went….no let up from the blues, Lee having to trip Collar to stop him with around 20 minutes remaining to play.

Sadly ,we made nothing of the free kick , or another superb ball from Connolly moments later , and for peace of mind we rather needed a second County goal to forestall a Welsh uprising!

 

Rydel did his best , midst a flurry of really good football from County. But he was upended in the box by Barnett and Mr Kirk was not for turning- no penalty was his decision.

Into the last 20 minutes we went then ,with Wrexham at last beginning to offer something in response to the opulent football that County set before their supporters- Hinchliffe enlivening proceedings with a spectacular diving punch out to negate the visitors` pressure.

But County were not done, especially Bate who again shone brightly bamboozling Wrexham down their right flank before playing Wootton in.

Woots was 1 on 1 with the keeper, so 50/50 when the angle was taken into consideration , but when Woots executed his chip, Burton sent the odds tipping his way by pushing the ball out for a corner, that Horsfall headed wide.

 

County opted to bring Tanto on for Barry on 72 minutes, and Fevrier, Adamarola and Bailey for Norwood, Southam-Hales and Ridel 10 minutes later.

The substitutions had an inevitable effect on County- the regularity of their attacks diminishing as they opted to defend deeper as the game progressed.  

But their cohesion was intact -they were defending well and with real confidence – Hinchliffe doing well as Barnett slung a late probing ball his way into the box.

Ben was definitely benefiting from the confident defending in front of him, but it was absolutely a symbiotic relationship as I think that the defenders in front of Ben are so confident to a large  degree because he is behind them- win …win …end of, but none of the above should be interpreted as me advocating that Corey should never be played in preference to Ben. The whole point of having 2 fine keepers is , or should be, that you start with the one in the best form- form should be the deciding factor nothing else!

 

We were soon into added time, and we needed that second County goal to put the game out of Wrexham`s reach, and in an instant, we felt we maybe had it in our grasp as Tanto was sent dashing clear onto a through ball

His blinding pace took him away from this marker leaving only Burton twixt him and glory. It called for a cool finish ,but his many minutes watching others play maybe told at this moment and he could not beat the keeper !

Disappointing for sure but there were 3 minutes still to play and Tanto gave us a hint of how he was feeling with a poor foul that got him booked with just 1 minute left to play.

Wrexham tried in that time, pumping the free kick and a series of balls high and long thereafter trying to test Hinchliffe, but Ben was having none of it dealing well with incoming.

County ensured the game ended brightly though as they broke from deep via Adamarola who had the crowd roaring as he raced to the by-line before cutting back inside to pick Fevrier out – his shot going in until Burton`s dive saw the ball tipped up and over the bar.

That was the end of the game- County had won 3 good points against a side that always makes life hard for their opponents.

It was time to celebrate then.....

 

 

An excellent result then with some very reassuring performances from individuals and the team in general, that sets us up nicely for Burton at their place next Saturday!

See you there hopefully!

 

Stockport County line up :-

 Hinchliffe, Southam-Hales (Fevrier 82), Connolly, Horsfall, Pye, Rydel (Adaramola 82), Norwood (Bailey 82), Bate, Collar, Barry (Olaofe 73), Wootton.

Subs not used: Addai, Hughes, Fiorini

Wrexham line up :-

 Burton, Cleworth, Scarr (O’Connell 63), O’Connor, Barnett, Cannon (Rathbone 63), Dobson (M.James 85), Lee, McClean, Bödvarsson (Mullin 63), Palmer (Faal 73)

Subs not used: Howard, Revan

 

Attendance: 10327

hedgegrower

 

 

  Additional Gallery:-

 

First off a couple from hedgegrower including the first image of Guus Willens from Netherlands here for his first County match- seen here with Supporters Cooperative members next to the Danny Bergara Stand….

 

 

 

 

And here are @machinsports images which include some more visitors from abroad-first image is of VFL Bochum fans over from Germanya( they are County supporters)+ the 2nd image is of 3 Swiss fans in the County shop on a visit from their beautiful country!