Stockport County 2 Huddersfield Town 1 ( Football League 1) Monday 21 April 2025

 

 

 

 

County came back from a goal down to secure their place in the play offs via goals by Fraser Horsfall and Ollie Norwood against Huddersfield Town today at Edgeley Park.

The old stadium was packed to the rafters at 3 o`clock but County struggled  at times without Ethan Pye`s presence at the back , being reliant , particularly in the second half, on a series of crucial saves by the impressive Corey Addai twixt the sticks for the blues.

The young County keeper could do nothing to stop Koroma`s goal on the hour and the lead did not flatter the Terriers- it had been brewing a while!

But this County squad is not for accepting what seems to be their allotted  fate , instead they  re-doubled their attacking efforts -Horsfall rising to head Norwood`s corner home with just over15 minutes of normal time left to play.

That seemed to galvanise the blues- Town were still showing a propensity for hitting us on the break and quite effectively too, but County were showing a talent in that direction more and more as the game progressed, culminating in a superb ball from Norwood that sent  Benno Andresson in on goal where he was brought down by Pearson, setting Norwood up to secure victory for County via the penalty spot.

Not the classiest of wins, indeed County wobbled a time or two without Pye as their anchor , but it was a fine result which they were made to work especially hard for by a pretty decent Huddersfield Town team !

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It all looked a tad odd come 3 o`clock as County defended the Cheadle End with Brad Hills lined up to the left of Fraser Horsfall at the back with Ethan Pye absent.

Indeed, Horsfall was in action early doors to stop the rot as Dion Charles looked to capitalise on hesitation in the County back line.

 

 

 

 

Hills did well as Jon Worthington`s team continued to press County back , cutting the lively  Dion Charles off , but I wondered whether it was wise to play him as a left sided defender.

 

 

 

The first 10 minutes were pretty much taken up by Town attacking- Mingi doing well to block Josh Koroma as he broke clear down the left for Town.

Then , 14 minute in, and the 1000 + Town fans , who were being rained on sat in the Railway End, fancied they had something to cheer as Charles twanged the cross bar with his shot , but …alas….they had not noticed that ,en route to getting his shot off , Charles had fouled Horsfall , a fact noted studiously by Referee Alex Chilowicz.

County`s first glimpse of goal came 4 minutes later as a veritable tsunami of loose passes by Town allowed Tanto a sight of goal down the right. He maybe should have done better , but Nicholls narrowed Tanto`s options -his shot drifting across goal and out as a consequnce.

Collar was next to show for County , getting in behind the visitors` defence to seek Tanto, but he was stopped from progressing by excellent defending by Buffels.

With the half hour mark nearing it was clear that , after struggling early on, County were at last emerging to put some pressure on their opponents- Jack Diamond doing just that with a goal bound effort that took a deflection on the way to goal where a superb diving save by Lee Nicholls kept the ball in play and the score 0-0!

Nicholls was in action again keeping a Woots effort out 2 minutes later - Collar to the fore again but seeing an effort from him ushered off the line brilliantly by David Kasumu.

This was a real contest and …yes….probably anyone`s match and both sides seemed to want to win so there was a lot to look forward to at this point.

Norwood went close for County just under 10 minutes  from half time-Josh Koroma showing us the other side of that coin  by capitalising on some poor defending down County`s left flank , stealing the ball - Horsfall doing well  to recover and force Koroma’s effort out for a corner- just about the last action of an interesting first half!

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The early minutes of the second half saw Huddersfield on the front foot attacking but not really getting to test Corey Addai in County`s goal.

We saw about 5 minutes of this pattern of play before our focus switched swiftly to the Terriers goal mouth where keeper Nicholls and Ollie Turton got themselves in a rare old pickle as Tanto hared into the box chasing a long ball.

The 2 defenders were happy in the circumstances to settle for conceding a corner when far worse threatened as a consequence, but their angst continued- Pearson doing excellent work to deny Brad Hills a sniff of goal when the corner headed straight for him…….

It went on with Bailey ( on for Mingi at the re-start) seeing his follow up effort blocked by Spencer.

It was a hairy old time for the Terriers back line at this juncture, and there was more work for Nicholls to do as County continued to camp in the visitors last third- the keeper making sure that Diamond`s latest goal bound effort stayed out along with the follow up from Collar.

 

 

 

It was Trauma City for the Terriers, but there was quite simply no room at all for complacency from County , and it was disquieting to see the blues spill possession to Karoma who was super sharp in this sort of situation for the Yorkshire side.

In no time Karoma had drifted into a decent shooting position smack in front of goal- a goal looked a certainty until Corey Addai had his say making a crucial save with his legs to keep the game still scoreless.

On it went and there was a distinct whiff of déjà vu in the air as the Terriers keeper again found himself giving 10000+ a passable imitation of a nervous wreck  with Diamond bearing down on him- Nicholls somehow escaped…..just….but a Town foul in the follow up put them under the cosh again via the free kick.

Then, we realised…far too late…that whilst attacking we had left the back door ajar and a sweet/sweet move from Town saw Karoma pick our lock and send Kasumu in on goal  - he did everything correctly but so did County`s Corey Addai and what should have been the opening goal for Terriers…wasn`t- Corey had pulled off another top quality save!

That was awesome stuff from Addai and would surely inspire his team !

County certainly pushed on – Hills policed well however by Evans as the ball headed his way via a County free kick.

We were nearing the hour mark now ,and County were building up the revs nicely , but still not getting the rub of the green – Terriers saved by a fantastic tackle by Spencer on Tanto as he darted clear onto a poor intended clearance.

It went on with Spencer again to the fore saving Town`s day once more , keeping Wootton and Diamond out as the duo buzzed inside the box for County.

Then DC rang the changes bringing Andresson and Moxon on for Collar and Fevrier both of whom left the field to excellent receptions from the County crowd.

Then County relaxed perhaps a tad too much and in no time Charles had latched onto the ball and picked out Koroma on Town’s left.

Koroma took a  touch before jinking inside, beating Hills before beating Addai with a top-class finish.

We were a goal down and at the foot of a rather familiar slope!

We had 30 minutes + any added though so nil desperandum !

Tanto had no luck next- missing out with a header that flew narrowly wide on 64 minutes, and then he was thoroughly mullered by the Danny Stand liner`s flag for offside when clear and …err….not ( offside!).

 

 

 

That was Tanto`s last contribution as he was hooked in favour of Connolly -I liked the idea of Connolly but was somewhat perplexed about Tanto losing out as I feel him and Benno do work together well, and we needed a goal.

Well, subsequent matters would put my comments into good relief as again the Manager showed he knows his footballing onions!

But…..not before Dion Charles went into vaudevillian overdrive  launching himself into an extravagant dive upon reaching the County box. Mr Chilowicz went up several notches in my view as he bided his time before flashing yellow in the miscreant`s direction!

Then , just 2 minutes later, County hit back, and it came after Bailey had won one of a series of corners. Norwood took it lifting it into the crowded box where all creation seemed intent on getting to the ball first- in the event Fraser Horsfall proved to be first amongst equals planting a firm header beyond Nicholls into the net- County were level and the Cheadle End was already celebrating!

 

 

And this image in from Simon George( thank you Simon)

 

 

 

But that goal sorted nothing- both teams still wanted to win – the neutrals, if there were any present, would have a thriller to enjoy but for the rest it was nerve wracking stuff as Evans whacked a tasty free kick goalward for Terriers seeing it deflected for a corner…….from this County attacked through Diamond – the Town back line recovering after being caught napping, to deny Jack a shot on goal.

 

 

 

 

Andresson was next to show for County , but despite going one on one with keeper Nicholls , the young County forward could not force the ball home.

Play swung from end to end still- County under pressure for 3, 4…5 minutes…Hills excelling to keep Wiles out when he looked very likely to score…… – Huddersfield somehow surviving after a series of crises enveloped them also - Connolly shooting first time but over the bar…..

 

We were close to the end of normal time when Norwood latched onto the ball sending it along the ground towards the box where Andresson chased  it along with 2 defenders.

 

 

One of the defenders was Matt Pearson and, as Andresson made to pass him ,he was tripped and the Referee wasted no time at all in pointing to the spot.

 

 

 

County had a penalty, and it was clear that Ollie Norwood would be taking it , and it was a belter as he slid the ball home to the keepers left as he went right….it was 2-1 …County had their lead and for over 9000 of the bumper 10000 crowd it was party time!

 

 

 

 

 

Credit to Terriers- they kept looking for something more from the game- Hodge`s long ball sent Taylor clear on 89 minutes only to find Addai in no mood to be sympathetic – denying the forward his reward instead making another important save ,claiming the incoming corner that followed also.

Into added time the incidents still abounded – Andresson unlucky to see a header strike a post with Nicholls beaten before running along the line to safety !

Ollie Turton was almost in for Terriers……instead he slipped in the box and to be fair I do not think he made too much of a go at claiming a penalty which was just as well a s Mr C had his cards handy.

And the remaining minutes gave the Referee a chance to use them – sadly a red card as Marshall elbowed Horsfall in plain view of the Referee to precede his teammates into the showers!

Eventually Mr Chilowicz brought the game to an end ,and the celebrations could begin- County had secured their play-off place and an automatic slot was still technically possible – so a very good afternoon indeed for County- well done one and all.

Back to Edgeley Park again on Saturday for the visit of Lincoln- hope to see you there!

Stockport County ine up :-

Addai, Mingi (Bailey 46), Horsfall , Hills, Touray, Fevrier (Moxon 59), Norwood, Collar (Andrésson 59), Diamond, Wootton, Olaofe (Connolly 69).

 Subs not used: Wogan, Cosgrove, Hamilton.

 

Huddersfield Town line up :-

Nicholls, Turton, Pearson, Spencer ( Sorensen 92’),  Ruffels, Kasumu,  Hogg (Hodge 85), Evans, Wiles ( Kane 85), Charles ( Taylor 86),  Koroma (Marshall 73)

Subs not used: Chapman, Chirewa.

Attendance: 10326 ( 1071)

hedgegrower

 

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