Stockport County 4 Doncaster Rovers 2 ( Football League 1) Monday 29 December 2025

 

 

 

Stockport County signed off for 2025 in style with  a much needed , and well deserved, 4-2 win against Doncaster Rovers at Edgeley Park last night.

The place was packed once again  ,and County , with Manager Dave Challinor ill and watching the game from the back of the stand, chose their final game of the calendar year to reward their supporters with a display of goal scoring to warm the coldest of their hearts on another very cold evening .

Nit-Pickers will say perhaps that the game was a bit of a curate’s egg ,but most watching  , as the goals went in, would have not recognised that description as being anything like accurate , instead being so….. so pleased to see their team scoring a decent clutch of goals again and , at last, remembering how to kill a game off in emphatic style in that game`s dying embers.

 Doncaster , still smarting from the defeat we had inflicted upon them at their place not long ago, took the lead midway through the first half( of which …more later!) but the lead lasted just 3 minutes before it was extinguished by Ollie Norwood`s spot kick.

It stayed 1-1 until well into the second half when Kyle Wootton gave County the lead.

Rovers made a game of it for a time thereafter taking advantage of County`s inability to defend a corner to equalise with 15 minutes left.

Grant McCann`s team may well have expected County to fold at that point- they did not do so ,instead treating their supporters to a rather good finale .

Woots was immense in what remained of the game- instrumental in both goals that settled the result of the game , but I am somewhat bereft to learn that County`s fourth is being recorded as an `own goal` robbing Kyle of a brilliant hat-trick !

Considering the disruption to the team`s match preparation and  management by DC `s unavoidable absence, this was a good performance from County.

I particularly liked Tayo Edun`s work – he continues to impress me no end , and it was good to see Malik Mothersille begin to emerge from the doldrums having his best game for us by some distance!

The top influence on County`s result though , for me, was Jayden Fevrier!

There is so much life in Jayden`s game when he is given the chance to showcase it, and I urge DC to capitalise on this welcome win by continuing to start Fev`s -County will surely reap a massive dividend from him doing so!

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Almost 5 minutes elapsed before either side tested the other- Rovers first to go close when Brandon Hanlon`s header flew wide .

An early burst from Fevrier set up County`s reply, but Rovers keeper Ian Lawlor kept Diamond`s strike out.

Mothersille then saw a shot comfortably held by Lawlor , before County went close to scoring  , Osborn slipping as he delivered a free kick into the box , where Olowu`s keen strike missed out, going wide off Wootton.

Edun meanwhile was looking very much the part down our left flank , unlucky in his attempts to link up with Mothersille and others, in an attempt to punish Rovers.

Then we got a bit of a warning as Tom Nixon made good progress down County`s left, pinging a decent cross over to the waiting Jordan Gibson who saw his shot saved by Hinchliffe twixt the sticks for the blues.

Play was fairly even for a while , we needed County to make some kind of a statement to their opponents, but having been set up via good work from Edun and Mothersille , Diamond dwelt on the ball overly long allowing a chance to slip from his grasp.

Back came Rovers through Nixon once more, again his cross was good, but what followed wasn’t as Owen Bailey lifted his shot high into the Cheadle End.

That was 23 minutes in, another 2 and the game took an unwelcome turn!

 I was in the Danny Stand for a rare change and saw what happened next clearly being directly in line with action.

A simplistic view of it was that County were then caught out making a basic error as McGrath fired a long ball behind the County back line to where Luke Molyneaux lurked .

Molyneaux was at least a yard offside and even though slightly behind play, the liner must have seen it was so, but his flag stayed down and when Molyneaux fired the ball beyond Hinchliffe into the net- the Referee indicated `goal` and that was that- Rovers had the lead and yet again the officials had our wholehearted opprobrium .

But karma was just around the corner, and in 3 minutes the Donny lead was nullified as following a neat one/two twixt Hills and Fevrier County had first a corner then an equaliser as , from the corner Wootton was upended in the prevailing maul in the box, opening up a chance for Ollie Norwood to redeeem himself from the spot which he did with assured aplomb, it was 1-1 and allto play for ! 

 Hinchliffe stood firm for County, smothering the ball as it fizzed goalward a couple of minutes later, the half ending in a flurry of attacking by County- Fevrier going close….Olowu closer -seeing his header twang the bar and stay out!

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The second half opened with Wootton shooting wide after a run and cross from the slowly improving Mothersille.

County looked up for taking the game to Rovers, particularly Fevrier, but it was annoying to watch as Osborn delayed making a pass in Fev`s direction until it was too late and when he did, he failed to pick the County number 10 out!

Mothersille meanwhile , continued to improve, his speed a known factor now happily supplemented by accurate passing , and he did pick Fev`s out- his run was blocked , but that was what we needed to see!

And we saw more as Fevrier turned on his magic again , pinging a dangerous ball goalward with his left to Diamond who was unlucky to see the Rovers keeper keep his effort out……

But Wootton`s luck was better and  Lawlor could only parry the ball in his direction and County leading goal scorer added to his tally with a thumping drive that gave the keeper no chance at all.

County had their lead, and the EP crowd were suitably roused, and the blues kept them interested as an altogether better cooperation , than the earlier example, twixt Osborn and Fev`s won the blues a corner- County pushing to increase their lead….Mothersille a foot wide with an effort- Fevrier again to the fore but his good work foiled by determined defending by Rovers!

There were just over 20 minutes left when County got a severe warning- their defensive reflexes on hold presumably as Broadbent was allowed to dink a high one across goal unchallenged to where Gibson hovered at the back post. Hinchliffe looked toast , as did County, when Gibson sent the ball towards goal….. but though it by-passed Ben….it then smacked into the far post ending up in the County keeper`s arms !

Wow, we had escaped…would we learn from this?

Well , not immediately, but Rovers did and from time wasting earlier they were now ever so keen on getting forward , and to be fair not looking at all bad when doing so, County having to  concede a corner when worse threatened, with barely 15 minutes left.

The whole job lot of players, barring Lawlor seemed to be crowded in the County last third- I felt misgivings…I was not alone …as our fears were proved correct as County failed to defend the kick Owen Bailey scoring from close in to equalise for Rovers.

Odin Bailey came on for Malik Mothersille with 10 minutes left – his first action being to get booked -Rovers` Bailey going  close from the free kick - but it stayed 2-2 !

That miss was crucial for the game`s outcome as County , bourn on now by a rising crescendo of supportive noise from County supporter took the initiative, most notably Ethan Pye who was pushing further and further forward down the County left where he then sent a beaut of a ball across the box where Wootton met it , making light of Senior`s defensive actions to power a header into the net- County led 3-2 and with under 10 minutes left to play.

By this time Rovers earlier time wasting was way on the back burner overtaken by panic and feverish attacking…but no goal…..

Pye was now back in his accustomed role at the back, and a good job too as he was able to snuff out a determined run  by Nixon. This resulted in a corner, but no traumas for the blues as Sean Grehan`s effort from this was saved nicely by Hinchliffe!

Rovers were still trying as we went into added time….6 minutes of it….Pye again to the fore defending like two men in the County cause as Rovers took advantage of naïve reffing by Mr Parsons – a sucker for a man falling to the ground in a seemingly lifeless heap!

No matter , County survived the dubious incoming free kicks to mount late/late assaults on their opponents` goal, their efforts so  resourceful that Ian Lawlor was seen, in extremis, going walk-about near the corner flag .

Rovers were in trouble, and Odin Bailey took the pass from Jack Diamond before lifting the ball to the back post where Kyle Wootton met it with supreme confidence bullying Senior into watching as the ball soared at speed into the net!

It was 4-2 and emphatically now…game pretty much over!

The records will say `own goal` but that final nail in Rover`s coffin looked emphatically Wootton`s to me- it was morally anyway!

Well done County, see you at Northampton and Reading County supporters!

 

Stockport County line up :–

Hinchliffe, Olowu, Hills, Pye, Fevrier (O’Keeffe 87), Norwood , Osborn, Edun, Diamond, Wootton, Mothersille ,(Bailey 79).

Unused Subs: Addai, Dodgson, Moxon, Hunt, Gardner.

 

Doncaster Rovers line up:-

 Lawlor, Nixon (Sharp 86), Pearson (Grehan 86), McGrath, Senior, Bailey, Close (Broadbent 59), Molyneux, Gotts (Clifton 74), Gibson (Middleton 74), Hanlan.

Unused Subs : Lo-Tutala, Maxwell.

 

Attendance :9629 ( 732)

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