Hatters ready for system check
NEAR-NEIGHBOURS Stockport Town and Stockport County met for a friendly on a sundrenched evening in Woodley – with the visiting Hatters hitting their hosts for six.
County’s goals were nicely shared around, too – with Frank Mulhern and Paul Turnbull following up their successful strikes from three days earlier at Halifax, before Matty Warburton, Darren Stephenson, Sam Walker and Nyal Bell all added their names to the night’s scoresheet.
Both sides fielded significantly different lineups in each half, and County took the opportunity
after the break to introduce attacking wide-man Jake Kirby for the first appearance of his second spell as a Hatter - as well as trialling left-back Alex Whittle, who had featured in the second half against Halifax, and the rightsided Kallum Mantack, who turned out for the Hatters as a loanee from Oldham towards the end of the last calendar year.
The Lions, meanwhile, used their new relationship with County whereby Alan Lord now combines his role as Director of Youth Development at Edgeley Park with a part-time headship of Town’s management team - to feature in the club’s opening pre-season fixture a number of young and former Hatters with first-team experience, including Sajjad Elhassan, Will Holt, Bobby Lofthouse, Jordan Peach, Josh Robinson, Dane Smith and Tom Whitty.
Kicking off in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and with an unchanged starting 11 from that at Halifax, the Hatters took the lead after just three minutes. An Adam Thomas free-kick from the right was headed back across goal by Ash Palmer from beyond the far post for Mulhern to nod in.
Mulhern and Thomas proceeded to unleash shots over the home crossbar, before the lead was doubled on the quarter-hour mark - when Stephenson swivelled in the box to square for first-half captain Turnbull to slot home from close range.
Smith, in Town’s goal for the night, kept out efforts from his sometime club-mates Turnbull and Warburton - but was powerless to prevent the latter making it three with 20 minutes played, as Warburton bore in on goal from the left before firing into the far corner.
Four minutes later, the Hatters had a fourth. Mulhern turned provider on the right, courtesy of a low cross that was flicked in by Stephenson from six yards.
No more goals were to arrive ahead of half-time although Smith did well both to tip over Mulhern’s pile-driver from outside the box, and to parry a shot by Palmer that followed a corner.
Additionally, Stephenson had a lobbed effort ruled out for offside, and, in the dying seconds, Warburton hit the near post after cutting in from the left.
The Lions, duly reshuffled, made the livelier start upon the resumption with Jonny Hurst chipping one shot narrowly over, and seeing another stopped by the previouslyunemployed Ben Hinchliffe.
Hinchliffe also parried an effort from distance by Matt Hanson, before trialists Whittle and Mantack cleared upfield two of several second-half corners awarded to Town.
With 13 minutes remaining, and the sun setting, Walker claimed the goal of the evening after connecting with Bell’s cross from the right to convert a first-time strike from the edge of the area.
And 10 minutes later, Bell completed the scoring from 25 yards out thanks to a deceptive, swerving shot that wriggled through the unfortunate Smith’s clutches.