County hold off
COUNTY overcame a spirited performance from neighbours Stalybridge to earn a 3-1 win at Edgeley Park on Saturday – and cap a fantastic week for Jim Gannon’s side.
A brace from Danny Lloyd, followed by a late Jimmy Ball header, rendered Kieran Dunbar’s well-taken equaliser obsolete for Celtic, and kept County firmly in the mix for a National League North play-off berth.
Following the previous Tuesday’s excellent 3-0 win at play-off rivals Brackley, Hatters boss Gannon had warned his men against complacency as they hosted relegationthreatened Stalybridge – and the warning proved to be a merited one, as the Tameside club gave County a scare in an eventful derby.
Two changes were enforced upon Gannon following the Brackley win, with goalkeeper Ian Ormson coming in for his 100th Hatters appearance in place of Ben Hinchliffe, who was absent through personal commitments.
Attacking midfielder John Marsden was handed the number 10 shirt, replacing captain Mark Ross who settled for a place on the bench after falling ill following an impressive showing at Brackley.
Despite a lovely atmosphere and an expectant Edgeley Park crowd, the first half produced very few clearcut chances with the Hatters’ opening goal catching Bridge cold, after just nine minutes.
Ormson’s accurate long clearance was flicked on by County forward Josh Amis - the former Northwich man’s second assist in two games - for the onrushing Lloyd to dink past Grant Shenton.
Lloyd hobbled away in celebration after being caught by Shenton, but recovered to continue on in the tie after notching his 20th strike of the season in a remarkable 35 appearances.
County, rather than going on to dominate however, looked “jaded” according to boss Gannon - and ‘Bridge’s best chance of the half came and went soon after, when the tricky Adam Morning breezed into the penalty area to fire wide of Ormson’s post from close range.
County did make it into the interval with their one goal lead in tact, but the second half didn’t prove to get any easier for the Hatters, with their former striker Sefton Gonzales proving a handful for Celtic and providing an outlet for his side to test the hosts aerially.
And it was Gonzales who sourced the equaliser for the strugglers, beating defender Chris Smalley to a long ball before swivelling and rolling into the path of the arriving Dunbar to curl high past Ormson from the edge of the area.
And Celtic weren’t done there, as Steve Halford and Paul Phillips’ side spurned two more glorious opportunites to take the lead prior to County sealing a far from comfortable win.
As Minihan appealed for a penalty to no avail as he tumbled under fullback Mather’s challenge, Stalybridge broke and found Dunbar in on goal, only for the Fleetwood loanee to drill just wide of Ormson’s upright.
More controversy swarmed around referee Simeon Lucas shortly after, as the rarely quiet Lloyd burst through on goal only to be hacked down by Celtic skipper Matty Hughes just outside of Shenton’s penalty area.
The new ruling introduced last summer on professional fouls suggests that only a yellow card is produced if the last man’s foul is deemed a genuine attempt to play the ball although Hughes’ high and cynical challenge on Lloyd was difficult to describe as a clear effort to win possession.
Hughes did escape with a booking though, and as Lloyd fluffed his lines from the free-kick, Celtic again countered dangerously.