Stockport County 3 Crewe Alexandra 1 ( League Cup Round 1) Tuesday 12 August 2025

 

 

 

 

 

County won their place in Round 2 of the League Cup with a business-like performance that saw them progress with a comfortable  3-1  win against League 2 leaders Crewe Alexander last night at Edgeley Park .

Goals from Kyle Wootton , Lewis Fiorini & Nathan Lowe did the trick for the blues with the visitors` late rally seeing them snatch a consolation goal via Ernre Tezgel.

Lowe`s goal was good to see and some reward for an encouraging showing that saw him go close several times before his early second half effort put County 2 up.

County showed great respect to the competition fielding a decent side and their reward , apart from progressing with a win, was some good performances to report.

Down our left Owen Dodgson  gave another excellent showing, linking superbly with  Danny Andrews who I feel we would do well to retain on a longer contract than the one he currently enjoys.

Kyle Wootton was tireless as usual as were Ethan Pye and Callum Connelly at the back and it was interesting to see Lewis Fiorini get 90 minutes and a goal.

Others did well , including a raft of substitutes and I was pleased to see Jid Okeke get minutes and do well going close twice in the second half.

So , a good win in front of a crowd of just under 5000 most of whom would have come away pleased with what they saw !

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It was Ben Hinchliffe`s 400^th start for County and he got a very good reception from a decent Tuesday evening crowd.

But, in front of Ben the game stagnated for a good while neither team producing anything to discomfort the other-the first 15 minutes bereft of incident.

Kyle Wootton woke us up on 16 minutes, but saw  his effort tipped over the bar by visiting keeper Sam Waller.

By 20 minutes Odin Bailey looked to please ,but his shot saw the ball clear the Crewe bar.

Danny Andrews by this stage was again looking the part, deployed ( if I read it correctly) on the left of a  back 3 ,  but getting forward  and looking good in concert with the consistently promising Owen Dodgson down the left.

A loose ball at the back by County encouraged Crewe but Dancey lifted his shot over the bar.

Things came to life more on 26 minutes - the Crewe keeper saving well to keep Bailey`s first time shot out after Lowe had played the ball back nicely from the by-line.

County more or less controlled matters after that, and it was 10 minutes before Crewe could respond- going long to Tezgel who found Corey O`Keefe on his case to sort matters for County.

The last 10 minutes of the half were County`s best so far and fantastically encouraging as a header from Nathan Lowe fizzed narrowly by the angle of bar and post from  Bailey`s neat cross.

With just 6 minutes left of the half  County were revving up nicely but found the road to Round 2 blocked unaccountably by Referee Scott Jackson who clearly had a hallucinatory moment  as Wootton`s energy impelled the Crewe keeper to a prodigious flap which saw him lose the ball to the close by Nathan Lowe. Nathan might have scored , him being smack in front and half a yard out, but the moment was ruined by a blow of the Referee`s whistle  for what I can only describe as a `fantasy foul`.

Crewe had escaped , and Lowe had been foiled again!

On it went , with County pressing busily  , and a certain feeling of Déjà vu surfaced as again Lowe rose , this time to get on the end of O`Keefe`s incisive ball at the back post , the header flying just wide of the target.

Lowe kept beavering away- a shot not long after deserving better but taking a deflection before  somehow being kept out by the keeper.

Then almost on half time he was on target again, but his shot  lacked power and was comfortably dealt with by Sam Waller for Crewe.

He just needed a sliver of fortune and a few more passes like those that reached him late in the half  for him to start scoring and feel better about life!

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The second half opened with County on the front foot with Dodgson & Andrews  continuing to assiduously probe for openings down the left and the blues soon went into the lead as Dodgson hurried O`Keefe`s  cross onward towards goal where the ball was masterfully forced home by the amazing Kyle Wootton!

County had their lead, and it took them just 2 more minutes to double it as Lowe joyfully headed Dodgson`s pass home!

The score now more or less reflected the balance of play  although , having held County for the first 45 minutes, no doubt Lee Bell`s team might feel unhappy about it.

Both sides opted for a substantial raft of personnel changes next- County swapping Norwood, Dodgson, O`Keefe & Wootton for Fevrier , Gardner, Okeke and Diamond.

The immediate impact of this was that Crewe went at County buoyed by a clutch of fresh legs- Ernre Tezgel burst clear with just over 20 minutes remaining to play, only for Ben Hinchliffe to celebrate his 400^th with a neat save to deny the Crewe player, and Ben was in action again a couple of minutes later blocking Dancey`s progress when well set.

We were into the last 15 minutes of normal time  now, with Arian Allen now on for Lowe and within a minute of this change County had their third goal Fiorini firing home with some confidence , and probably relief too, from a pass by young Che Gardner.

This spurred Crewe a touch and only swift action in front of goal by Callum Connolly kept Crewe substitute Tommy O`Reilly  out.

It was good to see the likes of Gardner making a positive contribution and Jid Okeke was in the mix too looking lively and going close with 9 minutes left.

Crewe then began to work to get something from the game ,but nothing would quite go their way- Calum Aguik inches from putting Lewis Billington`s probing ball into  the County net smack in front.

On it went…..Connolly saving the blues again with some smart work to deny Thibault……Tezgel blotting his copy book by failing to convert an apparent `tap in` with 5 minutes left.

They must have been despairing when at last something went right for them -Tezgel getting it right this time scoring from Billington`s dangerous ball.

We went into added time with Waller pushing a shot by Okeke around a post- Fiorini seeing Waller equal to the moment again holding onto his shot.

The game ended fittingly with a late save by Ben Hinchliffe to deny the tireless Tezgel.

Game over, mission very much accomplished.

I was pleased to see County give the League Cup the required respect – County deserved the success that they achieved.

Now the whisper is we could draw Man U in the  rounds to come….hmmmm…we`ll see.

Meanwhile -see you at Orient on Saturday !

 

 

 

Stockport County line up :-

 Hinchliffe, Connolly, Pye, Andrew, O’Keeffe (Okeke 60), Fiorini, Norwood (Capt.) (Fevrier 60), Bailey, Dodgson ( Gardner 60), Lowe (Allen 75), Wootton (Diamond 60).

Subs not used: Addai, Camps, Mee, Grogan.

 

Crewe Alexander line up:-

  Waller, Golding (Billington, 63), Connolly (O’Reilly 63), Croker, Dancey, Lunt (Armstrong 63), Moore, Powell, Finney (Hodkin 71), Thibaut (Agius 63), Tezgel.

Subs not used: Booth, Sanders, March.

Attendance 4945 ( 908)

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