Stockport County 1 Stevenage FC 3 ( Football League 1 ) Saturday 13 December 2025

 

 

 

 

 

County were put to the sword today at Edgeley Park by promotion rivals Stevenage.

Borough had far too much savvy for the blues , defensively resilient and able to work together and improvise going forward, they  bullied Dave Challinor`s team  all afternoon ,in the end looking very good value for their 3-1 win.

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 And yet…….early on I was fairly optimistic as County spent more time in Borough`s half than I had expected .In this respect the Edun/ Mothersille link up down the left has been mooted as worth working with, but again whilst Edun looked sharp, Mothersille looked anything but-making nothing of a chance provided via Hinchliffe`s  quick clearance from an early Stevenage free kick.

Then it was time for some pre-Yule rage as Filip Marschall the visitors` keeper clattered Jack Diamond to the ground as he ran onto Edun`s pass just outside the box.

I felt `red` but knowing all the time that the referee would go yellow and he did – and the miscreant declared a dividend as a result as the free kick saw Wootton`s header cleared off the line by Sweeney.

Another 2 minutes and that Edun/ Mothersille link up I mentioned earlier was in action down the left again - Edun sending Mothersille a neat pass that had him inside the box in no time and looking good to test Marschall, except he went down under no great pressure when a shot would have been desired … or a pass even , and me-thinks he went down too easily and  Mr Finnie wasn`t buying it – chance gone!

So, the first 8 or 9 minutes had suggested to me that the much-vaunted Borough defence was `getatable`  ……the 10th showed me something different as defender Luther James- Wildin  chased a lovely through ball slung towards the County box by Louis Thompson.

Edun struggled to contain the Stevenage man , who managed to ping the ball goalward where happilly for the blues Joseph Olowu was able to head clear.

That was an obvious warning, would we heed it ?

Well, not as you`d notice as 4 minutes later we were struggling again as Thompson found Jamie Reid with another subtly delivered pass – we looked to be toast, but Reid`s shot rattled the near post and sped across the line staying in play – County had escaped!

The blues looked to be beginning to shape after that last action- ex Hatter Carl Piergianni`s header kept out by the blue back line and cleared by Mothersille.

 Olowu offered more reassurance as he policed the dangerous Jamie Reid into the box and out of play………

………..I was borderline confident ,but it was a chimera as within another 2 minutes County were 1 behind and James- Wildin was involved again picking Chem Campbell out nicely. A quick turn by Campbell and he was away curling an absolute beauty into the far top corner of Ben Hinchliffe`s net !

County were one behind and it was 5 minutes before they could muster a reply , but despite forcing a corner, and keeping the pressure on( largely through diligent work by Che  Gardner and Jack Diamond ), the blues could not claw back that goal .

County did play some decent football though, and in the oppositions half- Diamond doing well to pick Mothersille  with a neat pass only to see the ex-Posh star lift a poor effort high over the bar.

Stevenage were not done however, and Edun did extraordinarily good defensive work for County to stop Campbell as he chased a through ball down our left flank.

Then Edun went on the front foot feeding Diamond , who again drew a foul and a free kick from Borough`s astute back-line. Sadly, County made nothing of the free kick.

Into the last 5 minutes of the half ,and it was clear that Diamond was taking the Mothersille roll wide left and Mothersille had switched inside alongside Wootton.

But , as half time neared, things might have gone further pear shaped for the blues had not Hinchliffe been alert and on his toes enough to intercept   another belting ball into the box by Borough`s Thompson. This was aimed for Reid – he did not get it thanks to Ben!

The  44th minute saw Mothersille clear but  rightly flagged offside ,and into added time the blues nearly shipped another goal as , a foul by Edun, forced them to defend a free kick . The ball fizzed to the back of the box where Carl Piergianni , that regular thorn in County`s side, emerged to plant his head on the ball sending it hurtling for goal. It looked a goal all the way but Hinchliffe flung himself to his left ,somehow pushing the ball beyond the far post out of play.

That was a brilliant save , a fitting way perhaps to end the half and send the teams in at half time with Borough 1-0 up.

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There had been a hefty shuffling of the County pack when the teams returned for the second half, with Moxon, Fevrier & Dodgson on for Mothersille , Edun  & Bailey.

The early action was at the Cheadle End where Gardner was a whisker away from a touch in front of goal  , and Fevrier`s first cross went begging for lack of someone on the end of it.

It went on with Dodgson and Wootton setting up a half chance that came to nought, and Dodgson again to the fore with a dangerous cross that Fevrier did his level best to sort but got far too close to.

I repeat myself I know, but I was again beginning to think good thoughts about how the game might end- nurtured briefly by a fine run from Diamond that happily he then blessed with a good pass to Fevrier, but there the good vibes stalled as Fev`s shot was held comfortably by Marschall.

We were not 10 minutes into the half when County self-destructed big time faced firstly by the sight of Thompson and James- Wildin taking liberties down our left flank ending right in the corner where amazing slight of foot by Thompson saw him allow James- Wildon to nip clear , beyond the flimsiest of cover by County ,before sending a cross to where even less cover stood in the way of the lone figure of Jamie Reid who made light work of beating the stranded County keeper to give Borough a 2-0 lead.

That was poor defending – undone by a simple cross , a back healer and the application of a modicum of nous by Borough!

We were still reeling from that catastrophe when another almost hit us as Phoenix darted clear. He really should have done better but his final ball had far too much oomph about it , so it stayed 0-2.

More pressure followed on County, but somehow they survived beyond the hour mark without conceding again, indeed they clawed a goal back as Dodgson`s more direct approach down the left brought a dividend , his latest cross guided home by a diving header  from Wootton!

That was excellent , 1-2 was manageable wasn`t if? Well …yes….but 1-3 was a different ball game and that`s where we went next as again Borough attended to the basics whilst County ….didn`t!

Just a great hairy legged punt up the park started it – the bouncing ball just needed attention…..maybe wellying the ball back towards the Cheadle End would work, but the best Pye could muster was a weak nod of the head that sent the ball into the danger zone where Hinchliffe had no chance of rescuing the situation, and Thompson underlined this fact with great clanging knobs on by lobbing the County keeper.

Borough now led 3-1 and  arguably County`s game was lost.

Gardner and Onyango had been replaced by Lowe and Hunt a little earlier and eventually County started to raise their game somewhat but still we were not attacking the crosses that Fevrier was putting over – Wootton was the sole provider of determined play in our opponents last third but  he cannot be everywhere and his ninth goal today , for me, answered any doubters!

And… just to underline my point  Woots was extremely unlucky with another diving header with 8 minutes left of normal time.

Both sides wasted free kicks next, and Pye recovered his equilibrium somewhat by stopping a run by Young ,smack on 90 minutes.

But that was an interruption to a prolonged period of County attacking – Dodgson getting crosses in from the left ( Lowe headed wide at one point ), Fevs from the right( still no takers).

County were well beaten , despite doing more attacking than their opponents, and to lose to a side as decent as Borough is no disgrace.

Do we need to improve- yes we really do, but that`s what the Manager is paid to sort, and I am sure , given the right support, he will!

See you at Mansfield on Saturday( there`s still a seat or two available on the Flyer!)

 

Stockport County line up:-

 Hinchliffe, Onyango (Hunt 63), Olowu, Pye, Gardner (Lowe 63), Osborn , Bailey (Moxon 46), Edun (Dodgson 46), Diamond, Wootton, Mothersille (Fevrier 46).

Unused Subs: Addai, Hills.

 

Stevenage FC line up :-

 

Marschall ,James-Wildin , Houghton  ( Pattenden 92), Piergianni , Sweney , Phillips ( Lubala 92), Freestone , Reid( Doherty 76) , Campbell , Thompson (Young 76), Phoenix ( Earley 66).

Unused Subs: Ashby-Hammond , Malcolm .

 

Attendance: 8,898 (232 ).

hedgegrower

 

Crowd Shot Gallery by @machinsports