Post by Rio Doherty on Oct 20, 2021 16:09:10 GMT
Thought we were unlucky last night as we competed very well against a relatively strong Stockport County side who play a division above us. With it only being the Cheshire Senior Cup I’m not going to lose lots of sleep over the result, because our performance was quite good which is what is most important following our break. In defence we were generally well-drilled while in midfield we played some nice quick football, but again we offered barely anything in the final third which has been the story of our season so far. That for me was the only thing which frustrated me last night, as we have now failed to score five times in our last seven games which needs addressing very quickly. Stockport County put out quite a strong side with big names such as Scott Quigley, Liam Hogan, and Alex Reid starting, while on the basis of the whole game I thought County played quite well. In the second half they moved up a couple of gears to cause us problems, and unfortunately once they scored we didn’t really look like finding an equaliser due to the visitors being tough to break down.
Our performance in the first period was really pleasing as we controlled the possession in the opening stages by playing some tidy and quick football. The likes of Declan Weeks and Jude Oyibo were very lively on the ball and were always trying to create openings, but like many matches this season our quality near the penalty area was non-existent, which was our only downfall last night. With around about fifteen minutes gone a cross-cum-shot by Darren Stephenson forced Ben Hinchcliffe to palm the ball over the crossbar, before Jude Oyibo squandered an excellent opportunity by firing wide from close range. At the other end Louis Gray pulled off an important save to deny Alex Reid, while Stephenson scuffed an attempt wide of the target on the 25th minute mark. We continued to pose questions to the visiting backline with a deflected Jack Redshaw shot resulting in a corner, while bang on the half hour mark Redshaw went close again with a powerful free kick turned away by Hinchcliffe. After that Anthony Dudley played James Hardy through, but unfortunately he was denied by Stockport County’s custodian from close range. One minute later we received a penalty, as Jude Oyibo was brought down by Tom Walker just inside the box. We were unable to take the lead though, as Jack Redshaw’s penalty rebounded off the post for us which was a shame given we deserved to go in front. Dudley tried to make amends for that, but unfortunately his low strike was held by Stockport’s ‘keeper. Despite that penalty miss though we were still on top in that half, therefore we headed into the half time interval with plenty of positives to take.
Meanwhile, the second half was edged by Stockport County in my opinion because we didn’t quite have that spark to go the extra mile. We were still very much in the game until the hour mark, but once the visitors went ahead we didn’t have enough desire to score an equaliser, because Stockport began to be more dominant. Just before the hour mark Stockport County made it 0-1 courtesy of Millenic Alli, as he darted forward before smashing into the far corner in what was an excellent solo goal. Up until that point we were slightly the better side, but that goal sucked the life out of us as it was Stockport who were more dangerous for the rest of the encounter. A few minutes later Harrison Burke produced a fantastic block to deny Alex Reid, before Ryan Rydel hammered the loose ball into the side netting. With less than twenty minutes left substitute Zack Clarke angled a shot wide, before Will Collar missed a sitter from a few yards out after Louis Gray saved Alex Reid’s initial effort. Tom Walker, who we have apparently kept tabs on lately, whipped in a free kick which produced another solid save out of Louis Gray. Plenty of encouraging signs last night, but we couldn’t find an equaliser which means our short-lived Cheshire Senior Cup campaign produced a cup walk rather than a cup run.
Despite us getting knocked out of the cup, there were still many promising performances out on the pitch last night with Declan Weeks being my pick for man of the match. I thought he was excellent in midfield as he was always in great positions to get on the ball, and whenever he was in possession he provided us with a spark in the sense we moved the ball around at a fast pace. Harrison Burke also impressed me in defence because he coped with a relatively strong opposition in a mature way, as he made lots of important interventions, blocks, and headers. Jude Oyibo was a positive outlet out on the wing too as he created some problems and was always lively on the ball, although some of his final balls were poor so he needs to work on that. Louis Gray in goal put in a good shift given he made lots of smart saves, and in all fairness he couldn’t have done much for the winner so he can come out of that contest having been one of our best performers.
It’s never nice to lose games, but getting knocked out of the Cheshire Senior Cup to a full time side from the league above us isn’t the end of the world at all, so as long as we pick up some results and start performing in the league then that’s all that will matter for me. We have a busy but huge week coming up with three very important fixtures coming up which will determine what direction we are heading in, so it is absolutely critical we roll our socks up. Our next match is on Saturday as we play York City away where we look to kick-start our league campaign. It’s really important we find a run of consistency now given we’ve had a stuttering start, so hopefully we will take a big following up to York to hopefully cheer our boys on to secure our first away win. I will be going so I’m very much looking forward to it now.
Our performance in the first period was really pleasing as we controlled the possession in the opening stages by playing some tidy and quick football. The likes of Declan Weeks and Jude Oyibo were very lively on the ball and were always trying to create openings, but like many matches this season our quality near the penalty area was non-existent, which was our only downfall last night. With around about fifteen minutes gone a cross-cum-shot by Darren Stephenson forced Ben Hinchcliffe to palm the ball over the crossbar, before Jude Oyibo squandered an excellent opportunity by firing wide from close range. At the other end Louis Gray pulled off an important save to deny Alex Reid, while Stephenson scuffed an attempt wide of the target on the 25th minute mark. We continued to pose questions to the visiting backline with a deflected Jack Redshaw shot resulting in a corner, while bang on the half hour mark Redshaw went close again with a powerful free kick turned away by Hinchcliffe. After that Anthony Dudley played James Hardy through, but unfortunately he was denied by Stockport County’s custodian from close range. One minute later we received a penalty, as Jude Oyibo was brought down by Tom Walker just inside the box. We were unable to take the lead though, as Jack Redshaw’s penalty rebounded off the post for us which was a shame given we deserved to go in front. Dudley tried to make amends for that, but unfortunately his low strike was held by Stockport’s ‘keeper. Despite that penalty miss though we were still on top in that half, therefore we headed into the half time interval with plenty of positives to take.
Meanwhile, the second half was edged by Stockport County in my opinion because we didn’t quite have that spark to go the extra mile. We were still very much in the game until the hour mark, but once the visitors went ahead we didn’t have enough desire to score an equaliser, because Stockport began to be more dominant. Just before the hour mark Stockport County made it 0-1 courtesy of Millenic Alli, as he darted forward before smashing into the far corner in what was an excellent solo goal. Up until that point we were slightly the better side, but that goal sucked the life out of us as it was Stockport who were more dangerous for the rest of the encounter. A few minutes later Harrison Burke produced a fantastic block to deny Alex Reid, before Ryan Rydel hammered the loose ball into the side netting. With less than twenty minutes left substitute Zack Clarke angled a shot wide, before Will Collar missed a sitter from a few yards out after Louis Gray saved Alex Reid’s initial effort. Tom Walker, who we have apparently kept tabs on lately, whipped in a free kick which produced another solid save out of Louis Gray. Plenty of encouraging signs last night, but we couldn’t find an equaliser which means our short-lived Cheshire Senior Cup campaign produced a cup walk rather than a cup run.
Despite us getting knocked out of the cup, there were still many promising performances out on the pitch last night with Declan Weeks being my pick for man of the match. I thought he was excellent in midfield as he was always in great positions to get on the ball, and whenever he was in possession he provided us with a spark in the sense we moved the ball around at a fast pace. Harrison Burke also impressed me in defence because he coped with a relatively strong opposition in a mature way, as he made lots of important interventions, blocks, and headers. Jude Oyibo was a positive outlet out on the wing too as he created some problems and was always lively on the ball, although some of his final balls were poor so he needs to work on that. Louis Gray in goal put in a good shift given he made lots of smart saves, and in all fairness he couldn’t have done much for the winner so he can come out of that contest having been one of our best performers.
It’s never nice to lose games, but getting knocked out of the Cheshire Senior Cup to a full time side from the league above us isn’t the end of the world at all, so as long as we pick up some results and start performing in the league then that’s all that will matter for me. We have a busy but huge week coming up with three very important fixtures coming up which will determine what direction we are heading in, so it is absolutely critical we roll our socks up. Our next match is on Saturday as we play York City away where we look to kick-start our league campaign. It’s really important we find a run of consistency now given we’ve had a stuttering start, so hopefully we will take a big following up to York to hopefully cheer our boys on to secure our first away win. I will be going so I’m very much looking forward to it now.