This must be the place I waited years to leave

Stockport County FC 2 - 0 Rochdale AFC

Journey:
M62, M60, 30 minutes - done. I found a parking spot in minutes. An absolute breeze. The journey is all the easier because I make the trip from Rochdale to Stockport very regularly. Is it because of the ostentatious town hall? No. Is it because of the historic market hall? No. Is it because of the Tudor splendour of Bramhall Hall. No. It is for a far darker reason than that. I have a secret. I am from Stockport. I'll get my coat...


Food:

£2.40 for a meat and potato pie. Granted it was a nice pie - flaky pastry and everything - but for £2.40 I would have been expecting swans tongues and artichoke, possibly with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I have no idea what messers Keane, Mitchell and Warburton had. The shock of the pie bill had dulled my senses.

Weather:

A pretty nasty night really. A chilly wind whipped around Edgeley Park all night driving with it a meager rain which looked more like light fog. Thankfully we were accomodated in a stand with a roof - unlike the last time I visited County (in similar weather conditions) where I lost the feeling in my face.

Ground:

The Hatters have been a big club in recent times - making it to the dizzy heights of the second tier of English football and if memory serves almost making it into the play-off's for a spot in the Premiership. Considering this, the ground is something of a puzzle. A big modern multi-tier stand graces one end of the ground. Facing it is a modest, open seating area (scene of my frozen face incident). The sides are occupied by large but distictly dated stands which feature a forest of stanchions that obscure the view where ever you elect to sit.

The game would be punctuated by Dale fans doing a passable impersonation of Meercats as they struggled to see the proceedings. County's support was pretty good and they were in good voice throughout. Dale had mustered in excess of 700 making it feel almost like a home game. I gather that somwhere out in the throng was Rochdale's favourite refridgerated desert entrepenuer - sadly I didn't see him. Regretably, I was not able to bring Lady Luck with me - the ongoing presures of her education meant that a late night was not an option. We would miss her.

Action:

Hopes were high in the run up to this game. The performance against Mansfield had yeilded a good convincing win - ending a fairly disappointing run of results. And of course - who could forget Dales visit to Edgeley Park last season...

For convenience, I will summarise what happened next: Nice passing, good possession, chances for Dale, great tempo. Stockport won a corner on ten minutes and Dickinson bulleted the ball home. 1-0 County.

This is beginning to get a little predictable. Pilkington's corner was a good one and Dickinson's header was pretty well unstopable. But, I am obliged to wonder how County's top goal scorer was left completely unmarked in the Dale area.

So, Dale had started brightly and conceded as a result of the Hatters first attack. Undaunted, Dale pressed on and continued to play some good stuff and continued to create chances. However, County's solid, professional defending ensured that the scoreline remained to their advantage.

Worryingly, young Higginbottom was subbed off on 36 minutes after a fairly robust encounter with Stockport's defence. Ben Muirhead trotted on to fill the breach.

I have written recently about the peculiar logic which dictates club mascots. Stockport's are truly bizarre. Like Dale, they have two. However, someone felt teddy bears would be a sensible selection. Two, creepy teddy bears. They looked like something from the little toy shop of horrors. Chilling.

As is the custom Dale started the second half in energetic style. Driving into the heart of the Stockport defence and creating a few decent opportunities. And then it happened...

On 56 minutes a Dale attack broke down, the ball was swept forward to Dickinson who looked to be in a good position to make it 2-0 for Stockport. This good position was converted into a nailed on certainty when for reasons which were never entirely clear Spencer performed his own tribute to the charge of the light brigade. With similar results. Spencer sprinted out to meet the oncoming Dickinson, completely misjudged the challenge and left Dickinson with the simple task of pushing the ball into the empty net. Oh Dear. 2-0 County.

Dale continued to try. But by this stage the Hatters were more than happy to put everyone behind the ball. Attack after attack fizzled out in the face of stout County defending. As the game wore on Dale attacks grew less and less determined and more and more speculative. This was in contrast to Stockport who continued to counter attack very effectively and could have made their lead even more convincing on a couple of occasions.

Summary:

All in all this was not a bad performance - but - a defensive oversight and a uncharacteristic rush of blood saw Dale concede twice. Dale continue to struggle to un-lock defences and did not make enough of the many opportunities they did create. The only consolation from this is that we have now played pretty well all of the teams above us - we have games in hand - we are still just outside the play-off's. Believe the sign.

Turner Watch:

Uncharacteristic no show. Possibly making one of his numerous public appearances - who can say.

11/03/08