HAPPY HATTERS SOLDIER ON!
ACLINICAL display of finishing from Stockport County ensured an emphatic victory over Boreham Wood at Meadow Park to keep alive their title hopes.
First-half goals from defender Ash Palmer and John Rooney put the Hatters in complete control before Alex Reid celebrated signing a new two-year contract at Edgeley Park with a match-clinching third.
It’s now 11 matches without defeat for Simon Rusk’s County but with their title rivals showing no sign of letting up, they failed to progress from fourth place in the table, five points off leaders Torquay.
But it looked like they were in for a tough afterFirst, noon at Meadow Park with Wood making the early running – Tyrone Marsh seeing an effort brilliantly blocked by Palmer.
The Hatters then started to show their intent on 13 minutes when the dangerous Macauley Southam-Hales had an acceleration of pace before his dangerous cross was well cut out by Jamal Fyfield.
Three minutes later, they took the lead when a well struck James Jennings corner was headed home by Palmer.
From then on it was oneway traffic. On the half hour, Harry Cardwell forced a save from Nathan Ashmore in the Wood goal and, two minutes later, Stockport doubled their lead with a fantastic strike from outside the box from Rooney which gave Ashmore no chance.
Wood needed a vast improvement in the second half and although they enjoyed long spells of possession they created very little.
Indeed, it was the Hatters who still looked the most likely – Southam-Hales playing in Rooney but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Wood captain Mark Ricketts did well to clear any danger.
And, on 71 minutes, the Hatters made sure of the points with a third goal – Southam-Hales and Rooney heavily involved again, feeding substitute Reid to produced an excellent finish beyond Ashmore.
The home side weren’t able to trouble Ben Hinchliffe in the Stockport goal until the last few minutes.
he saved well from a well-struck Gus Mafuta free-kick on 86 minutes and, in the second minute of the four added on, produced a point-blank save from a bullet Matt Rhead header to keep the clean sheet in tact.
Stockport County will be looking to continue this form for the rest of the season with this victory putting them right in the thick of a gripping National League title race.
As for Luke Garrard’s Wood, however, play-off hopes are surely over – a run of only one victory in their last 12 matches having seen to that, not to mention the 16 draws they’ve accumulated along the way.