Stockport County 1 Barnsley 1 ( Football League 1) Saturday 29 November 2025

 

 

 

County gave their supporters reasons to be cheerful at Edgeley Park today coming back from being 1 down in a disappointing first half to end up distinctly unlucky to have to share the points with a Barnsley team that stunk the place out with their tedious time-wasting tactics.

Considering our current injury orientated problems ,this was a decent result , but County`s second half showing really deserved all 3 points and if a better Referee than Craig Hicks had been in charge , we would have won with some to spare!

County`s goal came with a delicious helping of karma late on  -as Callum Connolly got up after being mugged twice in the box ( both occasions ignored by Mr Hicks) to belt home a real snorter.

 M.O.M by a mile was Jayden Fevrier who slaved the whole 90 odd minutes lifting tempting cross after tempting cross into the sharp end! Sadly no one in blue attacked these excellent prompts with any gusto, allowing the lanky red shirted stopper Jack Shepherd to repeatedly head danger away for the Yorkshire side!

The blues second half showing  augured well for our immediate future hopes, as the team ,marshalled with aplomb by Ben Osborn who slotted into a midfield general role superbly adding some order and organisational nous , dominated their opponents who had reportedly headed to SK3 expecting a comfy win!

Ethan Pye was not far behind Osborn with another stellar showing , but I was surprised to see Joseph Olowu hooked at half time, however  overall, Dave Challinor`s handling of the team was well up to his usual standard and would not have been at all flattered had County bagged all 3 points!

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Another big crowd filled the old stadium at kick off time, and I thought that the team Challinor put out was as good as he might have ,under the prevailing circumstances- I liked the idea of playing Andresson and Lowe  and the back line of Olowu, Connolly and Pye ,for me, was the correct selection too. I was a touch worried that we would play Fevrier as a wing back , but after an initial period when he was forced back into a defensive position, he presented our most potent `go to` attacking option throughout the game!

The early moments saw County pushed back on the defensive by Barnsley -Pye blocking Kelly`s effort  midst a welter of red shirted attacking play.

Cleary was to feature conspicuously for Barnsley, but not always positively- his liking for time wasting and the odd iffy intervention getting in the way of the game`s flow ( of those in red shirts, he was but one!). His input at this instance was positive for his team, as a cross from him fizzed to the back post where Dodgson hacked the ball out for a corner that saw Hinchliffe keep a shot by Connell out .

County weathered the storm to reply via Owen Moxon who prompted  Kyle Wootton  to head the ball on to Nathan Lowe who was hauled down on the edge of the box. That looked an obvious County free kick, and in a decent position, but Mr Hicks thought otherwise and Barnsley escaped!

Visiting keeper Murphy Cooper beat Wootton to the ball ,as Connolly`s throw put the County captain through on goal.

Enter Jayden Fevrier , who was most definitely NOT playing RWB, and he dazzled down that flank with a run that ended with a cross that begged to be put away, but Wootton’s dive saw him direct the ball over the bar with Barnsley exposed.

That was both good and disappointing and Fevrier gave us another prime example of the good stuff within a couple of minutes of that last action ,as another unstoppable run saw him cut inside to pick out Andresson  with a peach of a cross  that the Icelandic forward could only fire over the bar !

It was time for a response from Barnsley , but this was disrupted by a careless foul on Connolly by Reyes Cleary. Connolly was poleaxed and down receiving treatment for quite a while , during which time I noted Wootton having a word with the Referee, but whatever was said by the County captain could only have had zero influence on Mr Hicks who not only neglected to sanction Cleary but sent Connolly to the touchline following treatment- the seasons changing before the ref beckoned him back on the field of play !

 But, read on dear reader as we then had a small comeuppance for Cleary who saw his dangerous run into the box halted abruptly by a superb tackle by Connolly, just 4 minutes later!

Play continued with Barnsley looking to press but unable to quite find the required key to that particular door- Keillor-Dunn watching as his speculative effort drifted wide, but we got a glimpse of what would be our temporary undoing as Olowu and Hinchliffe combined to stave off disaster as passes started to go astray for County.

It went on- Olowu again to the fore with a terrific intervention to ease another testing ball from Cleary out of danger.

But then things went pear shaped for the blues in a small blizzard of miss-placed passes – first Bailey , then Hinchliffe and this time the door opened for Barnsley as Cleary slid the ball low into the box where Vimal Yoganathan met it scoring with ease!

County looked to reply but Moxon`s free kick to the back post, 3 minutes later, was cleared with alarming comfort by the visitors.

Cue a response from County, but….b@@@@r the Danny side liner was slumbering as Kelly darted clear whilst several feet offside. The liner eventually caught up with play, but it was too late, and he did not flag the infringement – County thankfully able to concede a corner when worse threatened- Hinchliffe doing well to save  a hopeful punt from Shepherd albeit at the second go.

We were into the final minutes of the half and it was noticeable that there were 2 men assigned to mark Fevrier now, but there was only 1 on Olowu as he headed towards the visitors box , and the County number 5 picked out Lowe nicely with a neat pass ,only for the young forward to blast the ball over the bar.

We went into added time with County on the back foot- defending a long throw ……. Hinchliffe  saving twice in rapid succession keeping shots from Keillor-Dunn & Kelly out after a disconcerting mix up by Connolly & the County keeper-the half ending with a glorious tackle by Pye to deny Kelly- my notes on this though are notable for having many exclamation marks as Kelly was way…way…way offside, but did the Danny liner clock it……….nah !

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County started the 2^nd half with Hunt & Osborn on for Olowu and Andresson – I assumed Olowu had picked up a knock, but I did not see that happen if so, all that said Osborn`s introduction was a definite plus for County as he took charge of midfield and steadied the ship.

Two markers or not , Fevrier refused to be put off , getting a neat ball inside to the back post where Wootton headed for it being beaten to it by Roberts.

Slack work by County almost cost them dearly next- Connell`s free kick for Barnsley headed wide by Shepherd.

Then Barnsley almost blew it- Watson doing really well to keep Fevrier`s latest fizzing whiz-bang from the advancing Dodgson.

County got a corner from that, and almost …almost….. Bailey`s shot ricocheting wide off a defender to the keeper.

Then it was Fevrier`s moment , or to be more exact `quite a few moments` and the crowd roared as he took the Barnsley defence on – Roberts getting to the cross before any in blue could react!

The next few minutes saw no let up from Fevrier as Roberts again did the biz denying County from another Fev`s special, then being in the right place again to prevent Wootton from at last converting a Fevrier cross.

But Fev`s kept going, urged on by the EP faithful – skinning Cleary  , but seeing his cross headed clear by Shepherd.

County were piling the pressure on now but lacked the finish their approach play merited.

Diamond came on for Moxon with 20 minutes of normal time left, and County kept pressing – Fevrier winning a corner but watching as Bailey sent this flying out of play.

With 15 minutes left Bailey gave way to Mothersille, and for Barnsley Cleary, who had spent more time on the floor than upright, left replaced by Ogbeta .

Barnsley were being outplayed , definitely 2^nd to County in this half but where was the goal that would change things?

It would have helped if the game could have flowed naturally but instead any rhythm was constantly being dissipated by someone in red sinking to the horizontal on the deck- it was appalling- I clocked we would have 15 minutes time added .

It was mainly County on the attack, but Pye made 2 telling interventions in a 6- or 7-minute period stopping Kelly & Connell with top grade tackles.

But, as I say , mainly it was County on the attack – Cooper dealing easily with a header by Diamond with 7 minutes left.

Back came County as Fevrier took the game to their opponents again ,his cross forcing Barnsley to concede a corner. County fancied this but Connell fancied a rest and slumped to the ground prompting Mr Hicks to take immediate action saving the visitors with a free kick!

Again, County surged forward-87 minutes Connolly was leaned on and  flattened in the box ( no reaction from the ref despite the Cheadle End`s prompting)….88 minute and again Connolly is poleaxed with the same lack of reaction from the man notionally in charge.

That was beyond annoying , but County weren`t done and the follow up move was kept alive by excellent work by Hunt who then crossed the ball into the box where , with a distinct whiff of karma in the air, Connolly slammed a rasping drive into the net- County had equalised , but  they deserved more from this game……

Well, with 16 minutes added time we would be quids in…..but the officials signalled 6 !!!!!

Barnsley were barely hanging on now- Cooper their keeper just able to punch clear under pressure from a free kick – then spared a corner by the officials,  after catching a follow up ball but then falling with it outside play.

There was time for another County attack…another controversy…or did I hallucinate and see Lowe chase a long bouncing ball into the box only to be tripped by Shepherd?

I must have surely !

No Penalty then, but we got a corner, and Connelly did his best to double his and County`s goal tally but instead his header from close in flew over the bar.

The ref blew to end the game not long after that action and more than Row R seemed unanimous that County had been unlucky not to win .

For sure that display is something to build on as we await those who are returning!

Well done all today- a good effort!

 

 

 

Stockport County line up :-

 Hinchliffe, Olowu (Hunt, 46), Connolly, Pye, Dodgson, Moxon (Diamond 69), Bailey (Mothersille 76), Fevrier, Lowe, Wootton , Andrésson (Osborn 46).

Unused Subs: Addai, Edwards, C. Gardner.

Barnsley line up:-

Cooper , Roberts, Shepherd, De Gevigney, Phillips (McGoldrick 86), Cleary (Ogbeta 77), Kelly, Watson, Keillor-Dunn, Yoganathan, Connell

Unused subs: Flavell, Russell, Vickers, Rooney, Farrugia.

 

Attendance: 9,861 (1,154 ).

 

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