Hatters sign off
LEAGUE Two leaders Stockport County signed off on their Edgeley Park campaign for 2023 by battling to a 2-1 win over promotion hopefuls Notts County in an intriguing clash on Friday night.
Goals either side of the break from former Notts man Kyle Wootton and Hatters captain Paddy Madden were enough to see off a visiting side which dominated possession throughout, yet could only grab themselves a consolation when David McGoldrick weaved through the County backline and finished superbly deep into stoppage time.
The huge three points just days before Christmas meant that Dave Challinor’s men would see in Christmas Day six points clear at the top of the League Two tree, ahead of two challenging trips to Barrow (26th Dec) and Bradford City (29th Dec) respectively to see out the year.
Hatters boss Challinor opted for one change to the line-up which started in last Saturday’s 8-0 thrashing of Sutton United, with Tanto Olaofe coming back in up top alongside Wootton and skipper Paddy Madden.
Notts, who came into the clash on a miserable run of just two wins across their previous eight outings, boasted former Sheffield United striker David McGoldrick in attack, with the experienced forward having returned from an injury absence for the trip to Edgeley Park.
Having plundered eight against hapless Sutton a week prior, the league leaders wasted no time in getting off to a similar start here, as Notts were haunted by a familiar face.
Kyle Knoyle’s quickthinking saw the former
Doncaster full-back pull a corner back towards the unmarked Kyle Wootton, who punished his former club with a clinical finish – in front of the Cheadle End - to open the scoring at a sold-out Edgeley Park.
But from there, The Hatters were rather passed off the park by an away side who regularly threatened without forcing a save from Ben Hinchliffe before the interval.
McGoldrick almost met Macauley Langstaff’s low cross moments after Wootton’s opener, whilst Malta international Jodi Jones curled over the crossbar shortly after.
County, with a lesser seen front three on the night, didn’t really threaten for the remainder of the half, with Luke Williams’ out-of-form side looking to force home a quite clear possessional advantage.
Challinor’s men did make it into the break with their solitary goal lead still in tact, with the Hatters boss calling for the services of Akil Wright in midfield for the resumption of proceedings, in place of forward Olaofe.
Wright was straight into the action in the second half – and in the most contentious of manners.
Wootton came close to doubling the County lead on the break as he latched onto Madden’s through ball and forced the save from Aidan Stone. From the resulting corner, Wright leapt to head home, only for the goalbound effort to hit the elbow of Richard Brindley on the goalline.
Referee Stockbridge waved away the frantic County appeals – as he did moments later when Langstaff went to ground inside the opposite penalty area under little pressure from Fraser Horsfall.
The visitors then continued that familiar pattern of passing the home side into submission, with Langstaff clipping Jodi Jones’ cross over the bar,
Sam Austin seeing the offside flag deny him a leveller, and McGoldrick then seeing his goalbound effort hacked off the goalline after a mix-up between Hinchliffe and Ethan Pye at the back.
The intriguing battle continued at pace throughout the second half, with Notts looking easy on the eye but failing to really test Ben Hinchliffe until late on.
For their part, the league leaders doggedly refused to press the visitors and instead sat in a compact shape, illustrated perfectly by winger Aaron Nemane standing still in possession inside the Hatters half, with not a single blue and white shirt leaving their shape to close the number eleven down in yet another move which came to nothing.
And, for all the visitors’ possession-based football, it was Challinor’s table-toppers who doubled the lead and vitally so, when Jayden Richardson pounced on a slip at the back and bound forwards with Ibby Touray alongside.
Touray squared for former Notts man Richardson
to tap home, only for Kyle Cameron to unceremoniously haul Richardson to the ground.
Cameron escaped the very real possibility of a red card having not attempted to play the ball, but up stepped captain Madden to slot home low to Stone’s left regardless.
That second proved crucial, as deep into stoppage time, David McGoldrick danced through the County defence and skewed low past Hinchliffe.
That made the final two of five added minutes nervy for the home side, but a capacity crowd of over ten thousand roared the sound of the final whistle in delight.
COUNTY LINE-UP (3-4-3):