Another season dawns and once again this blog returns, but this season I was less prepared than ever before. Due to other distractions in life I wasn’t aware of the season starting till the day of the first games.
Scrambling to find a game I could make at such short notice one team called out to me, Stockport County.
The Hatters have been on the rise for many seasons now and after becoming League Two champions in May they start this season up in the heights of League One.
They came millimetres away from a perfect start to their time in the 3rd tier within 20 seconds of kick-off.
Today’s opponents Cambridge United finished 18th in the League last season, so the Blue Army proved the gap between the leagues is not all that large by carving through the Abbeymen’s defence like a hot knife through melted butter. It was just a shame that the shot was deflected agonisingly wide of the post.
Whilst it would have been a brilliant way for the newbies to announce their return to this league so quickly, they would have to wait a full 4 minutes more to take the lead.
Louie Barry, the home fan’s sweetheart, was the man who provided the moment to send the home fans into ecstasy with a stunning 20-yard chip over the head of the statuesque Vicente Reyes and in off the bar.
Kyle Wootton would try to produce a carbon-copy of his teammates brilliance just 10 minutes later, though with more stratospheric results.
Cambridge never recovered from this early onslaught and as they shrunk entirely out of the attacking third. Corey Addai could have had a nap between the posts and no-one would have been any the wiser.
The half belonged so completely to the rampant hosts that at half-time Garry Monk, once of Swansea City, decided it was high time to mix things up a little, replacing Jubril Okedina with Paul Digby at the heart of his defence.
For the first 5 minutes of the second half Monk’s change seemed to be having the desired effect, his team launching out of the traps like greyhounds and harrying the Hatters back into their penalty box.
This first taste of defence spooked the hosts so much they sparked the floodlights into life, despite the glorious sunshine bathing the Edgeley Park pitch.
It did the trick though as the visitors shrunk backwards again and surrendered momentum back into the Hatter’s hands as the game meandered it’s way into its final 20 minutes.
The meat of the second half was a midfield slug-fest being won by Stockport, but as the game hit it’s 73rd minute without any more goal-mouth action of note both manager’s chose to dip into their benches to spice up proceedings.
Monk’s 3 substitutions made little impact on the match, but one of Dave Challinor’s changes was much more successful.
Jayden Fevrier marked his introduction to the game by weaving down the right before feeding the ball to the feet of Wootton, allowing provider of Stockport’s first to turn scorer of their second from point blank range at the back post.
Stockport’s number 19 celebrated his goal by scaling the hoardings behind the goal.
This was the last meaningful action of a match in which both teams had tried to work their way into the season and it is the hosts that will feel far more positive for the season after the way this one went.
Stockport will face tougher challenges this season and they have since been brought back down to earth after a midweek League Cup loss to Championship Blackburn Rovers, but they will still be riding high on their chances of survival in League One after such a soft introduction to League One.
The Football tourist 