Stockport County 1 Lincoln City 2 ( Football League 1) Saturday 26 December 2025

 

 

 

 

 

There was no Xmas cheer to speak of , for County supporters at Edgeley Park today, where the under-par blues gave one of their poorer performances , losing 2-1 to high flying Lincoln City.

The Imps  looked every bit a side perched up there in second spot in League 1 whilst , at times County gave a passable impression of a side struggling at the wrong end of the table.

For County , the rot set in early and they could have been 2 or 3 goals down by half time, instead of 1- a goal put away with aplomb by Reece Hackett , but set up by poor defending , most notably a terrible attempted clearance by Brad Hills that left Hinchliffe stranded and easy meat for City`s eager forwards.

County shaped better for a time after the break – equalising via Jayden Fevrier who spared Ollie Norwood`s blushes by forcing his follow up effort home after the County captain had seen his penalty saved by George Wickens the Imps keeper.

But , despite DC ringing the personnel changes , and County looking somewhat better on the ball it did not last and eventually the visitors reasserted the constant pressure that had served them so well in the first half, and County had no answer.

Yes, the winning goal….the penalty was arguably soft, but , whilst habits of a lifetime tempt me to berate Referee Paul Marsden over it , I resist…….if we don’t clear our lines with speed and a modicum of efficiency , when under pressure , we lay ourselves open to situations such as this and so it was that we paid the price  when Rob Street slotted the resultant  penalty home for the exultant Imps.

Any in depth inquest will have to wait however, with Doncaster visiting us on Monday and Thursday`s away game at Northampton following that, but for sure there will be one…..

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Another big crowd of not far short of 10000 were inside Edgeley Park to see County pushed back early on by Michael Scubala`s Lincoln City side.

For sur, Olowu and Hills were already busy lads , both doing useful defensive work in the County cause as an early long throw added to the blues angst.

We defended that OK , and Wootton surfaced to win a corner down the right, but this came to nothing and the visitors resumed their push on County`s goal- Reece Hackett inches from reaching a decent  through ball in front of Hinchliffe`s goal.

The game was not quite 10 minutes old and County`s plight was already beginning to cause alarm as they worked hard to contain the threat.

It was hard work though, and the Imps were determined to press on sending Jack Moylan clear . He was clearly offside, but the Danny side liner was way behind play and let the matter go, County having to depend on Ben Hinchliffe to rescue the situation which he did at the extremities of his area.

The next 3 or 4 minutes saw Onyango, Osborne and Norwood all attempt to rattle the Imps` cage without conspicuous success, and despite winning corners and a free kick the blues struggled to pick a way through City`s defensive cover- Wootton coming closest to doing so stretching vainly to reach Norwood`s incoming cross field pass in the box.

That was just before the half hour mark, the very next minute saw County go a goal down, and it came via a defensive slip up, as Brad Hills gifted the ball to City`s Rob Street . In a moment the ball went on from Street to Hackett who made short work of beating Hinchliffe with the neatest of finishes!

County came under some real pressure after the goal and some of their play perhaps reflected  the anxiety they were feeling – Norwood spilling possession to Adam Reach down the left -somehow  the blues were able to survive that trauma , as an in-swinging Imps corner clipped the top of the bar with the blues exposed.

The rest of the half was more or less a procession towards Hinchliffe`s goal by Lincoln- the County keeper doing well to hold onto a header from Moylan on 43 minutes……and better to deny Hackett a minute later as the forward made rapid progress and got a shot off despite distinct indications of handball in his approach play.

That was not great from County`s viewpoint- Hinchliffe was earning his salary and keeping the score respectable, and he did it again into added time , once more foiling Moylan with an excellent diving save.

At this juncture Tyler Onyango succumbed to injury and was replaced by Jayden Fevrier almost on the stroke of half time.

But there was still time for an encore by Hinchliffe who pulled off a splendid last gasper to stop Hackett who had been played clear deep in added time. The flag went up indicating offside after the save, but  Ben did not know that!

It was a relief when the whistle went for half time and the teams went in with County `just`0-1 down.

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Lincoln opened the second half as they had concluded the first- on the front foot forcing County back with a long throw here…a corner…a free kick there, County were hard pressed to survive.

Eventually County were able to break the siege- first via Diamond this showed willing, and then through Hills whose surging run towards the box could only be halted with a foul.

Enter Ollie Norwood centre stage, and we gasped as his kick curled around the Imps defensive wall , only to gasp again as Wickens, the Imps keeper, flung himself to his left to push the ball around the post.

Salvation for Wickens and his team then…except it wasn`t as the corner ended up with Hills and again ,he was mugged, this time in the box and Mr  Marsden pointed quickly to the spot!

County had a penalty and again…Norwood was centre stage and surely would equalise…………..

Well, no….as Wickens was on his toes and kept the ball out, sadly( for him and his team) parrying the ball to his left where Fevrier beat a clutch of others to reach the ball and score the equalising goal his team required!

Simply excellent- it was 1-1 and much more manageable ( it seemed )- County did look a tad livelier , switching play into their opponents half forcing the likes of Sonny Bradley to seek Hardcastle Road and beyond with the ball in extremis- if only County could add  real  finishing skills to all the rest, but we watched , after the hour, as Wickens denied Diamond with a neat save.

It was not long before Lincoln turned the screw on County again with a succession of well-ordered attacks – just the finishing was awry….Hamer shooting wide………Moylan hitting the side netting from a corner …….Draper miscuing his effort wide when well set…….Street closer ….but having to watch as the ball came back out off a post with less than 15 minutes left to play.

By this time DC had rolled the dice again bringing Mothersille , Edun and Hunt on for Lowe, Dodgson and Olowu , and this seemed to inject some much-needed order into County`s play, culminating in Diamond`s best effort yet , but again we watched as Wickens made the save to deny him!

I then thought a link up twixt Wootton and Mothersille looked about to declare a dividend until the latter reached the box where his progress was cut abruptly short by Darikwa`s intervention!

It went on….Diamond`s speed causing City issues briefly but not culminating in anything to cause Wickens any distress….ditto Mothersille `s run moments later that again faded out upon reaching the box.

We went into 4 minutes added time with the score still 1-1 ,and with Lincoln under pressure, but the extra minutes seemed to light the Imps fuse as they swarmed up the park forcing County to defend – the away end giving them full and loud support ( which with the roof on we could hear and so could the Lincoln team).

For the most part County defended  well if with a touch of the `last gasp` about it at times, but midst the latest attack we heard the away support loud and clear -they wanted a penalty.

They had done so slightly earlier, and Mr Marsden ignored them but this time  with Hunt engaging with Hackett in the box he reacted differently – pointing to the spot to the delight of the travelling fans!

It was almost unbearable to watch, but I did,  seeing Rob Street slide the perfect penalty beyond Hinchliffe into the County net- it was 2-1 to Imps and more or less `game over`.

There was time for both teams to have a go, but miss out…..and for me to fancy a penalty as Wootton was forced to the ground in the box by Towler – but        I was disappointed.

Soon enough , the game was over , County  had lost.

As I said earlier , I suppose the inquests will start now, but I am content to see if DC can turn this around – content to let the Manager manage -if he fails it will be the first time he has done whilst with us , so he deserves every chance to  put things right!

Team (3-4-3): Hinchliffe; Olowu (Hunt, 77), Hills, Pye; Onyango (Fevrier, 45 + 5), Norwood (Capt.), Osborn, Dodgson (Edun, 77); Diamond, Wootton, Lowe (Mothersille, 77).

Unused Subs: Addai, Bailey, C. Gardner.

Booked: Onyango, Norwood.

Man of the Match: Hills.

Attendance: 9,690 (631 away).

Stockport County line up –

 Hinchliffe, Olowu (Hunt,77), Hills, Pye, Onyango (Fevrier 45), Norwood , Osborn, Dodgson (Edun 77),Diamond, Wootton, Lowe (Mothersille 77).

Unused Subs: Addai, Bailey, Gardner.

 

Lincoln City line up –

 Wickens, Darikwa, Reach, Hackett, Bayliss (Varfolomeev 46), Moylan (Obikwu 88), McGrandles, Bradley, Street (Towler 93), Hamer, Draper (Jefferies 74)

Unused Subs : Jeacock, Ring, Okoronkwo.  

 

Attendance: 9,690 (631 ).

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