Hippolyte’s late leveller puts County in Cup draw

STOCKPORT County boss Dave Challinor believes his side deserve to be in the draw for the third round of the FA Cup after their late leveller secured a 2-2 draw at Charlton in the second round.

The Hatters were heading out until the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time when substitute Myles Hippolyte guided a deft header past Ashley Maynard-Brewer from Macauley Southam-Hales’ corner.

Charlton had fought back from Chris Hussey’s early opener. Steven Sessegnon’s cross was turned in by a clumsy combination of County keeper Ben Hinchliffe and Joe Lewis in the 23rd minute with Albie Morgan finishing off a fine looped ball by George Dobson in the 39th minute.

So Stockport are still in the hunt to reach the third round of the competition for the third campaign in succession.

They had opportunities before their late leveller with Maynard-Brewer denying Ollie Crankshaw and Hippolyte. Sean Clare also made a fine sliding block on a Ryan Rydel strike.

“Sometimes coming to places where you are the underdog and scoring early can be the worst thing,” said Challinor.

“I felt we became a bit safe and almost tried to protect the game – especially as we’re better on the front foot.

“I managed to have a chat at halftime and re-emphasise that belief in terms of how we play.

“In the second half we were much better and the substitutes absolutely made a difference.

“We were thoroughly deserving of a replay and look forward to what the draw brings.”

Charlton boss Ben Garner was furious at full time, insisting the corner from which County’s equaliser came shouldn’t have been given.

“The build-up to the goal we can deal with better, the set-piece we can deal with better but I’m really disappointed that the corner is given – because the ball is not out of play,” he said.

“The linesman is on the opposite side of the pitch, he’s not up with the game. Basically he has guessed and you can’t be doing that.

“It’s a frustration because we are a minute away from being in the next round.”

Asked if the awarding of the corner was contentious, Challinor said: “I would be guessing. I suppose you have to trust officials. You can look back on lots of decisions in the game and say was it this or was it that.

“I’m not too fussed because we scored from it. If it hasn’t gone out and we’ve scored an equaliser then I’m absolutely going to take it. I will apologise for that, but glad the decision was made that has given us the corner and given us that chance.”

ALTRINCHAM extended their unbeaten run in the Vanarama National League to three matches with a 2-1 win over Eastleigh.

The Robins opened the scoring when Chris Conn-Clarke volleyed home from close range in the 13th minute and doubled their lead with 13 minutes left on the clock when Ryan Colclough smashed a low driven effort into the back of the net from inside the area.

The Spitfires replied late on through Danny Whitehall’s effort but Altrincham held on.