County well placed to better memorable year
AS we enter 2024, many fans will have spent the fixture-free weekend taking time to reflect on 2023 – a brilliant year for supporting Stockport County.
There were so many highs.
The Salford play-off win, Wembley (even if we didn’t win), putting three past Orient, putting five past Wrexham, putting eight past Sutton and the equalling of the league record for consecutive wins.
You, dear reader, will no doubt have your own but, listening to some, you’d have thought the season was over after we lost to Mansfield!
We’re top of the division and we’ve been there since mid-October. Did people genuinely think we’d go through the rest of the season unbeaten?
The Stags are the division’s form team and have been on our tail all season, add to that the number of serious injuries we have, is it any wonder that we’re not firing on all cylinders?
Since that win over Sutton we’ve played Notts County, we weren’t great but we won, at Barrow we had a shocking first half but still managed a draw while at Bradford, again we came away with a point without playing too well.
Before Sutton we’d been humiliated by Aldershot in the FA Cup, lost to Wigan in the EFL Trophy, lost at Newport and drawn with both Salford and Morecambe.
Not great form, you could argue that the Sutton win hid some of the cracks (were we so good or were they so bad?) certainly the difference in the team at the moment from that 12-game winning streak is obvious for all to see, but still we’re top of the league.
So, Mansfield arrived at EP, for some it was a six pointer, for some a draw would do, for most I think it was a case of “don’t lose” but Nigel Clough brought a team that could play both football and anti-football.
As early as the fifth minute there had been a couple of rash challenges, the referee showing a yellow when a straight red would have been more appropriate when their number 8 went through the back of Ethan Pye who had to be subbed and is added to the injury list.
As is Kyle Knoyle who was on the floor, after a clash of heads, for a long time before being stretchered off.
There were further ‘offences’, one on Hinchliffe that was surely a red and two very good penalty shouts that the ref turned away.
Mansfield won the game 2-0, scoring the simplest of headers early in the second half and the second very late in the game after a defensive slip up.
We’d had chances, in the first half. Woots was just a big toe away from turning in a Madden cross, Paddy had a shot that just shaved the outside of the post, in the second half Powell had a goal bound shot cleared off the line and Tanto had a header from two yards that was miraculously saved by the Stags keeper.
It wasn’t great and it means that both Mansfield
and Wrexham can go above us if they win their games in hand but as I keep saying, “We’re top of the table” and we’re there for a reason.
Over the next few weeks we’ll have some new additions to the squad and the injuries will start to clear up.
It’s not all doom and gloom and I firmly believe that 2024 will be just as good as 2023. Come on County.