***Stockport County Official Matchday Thread***

Yep these things take time. It’s a mixture of Yems signings and Betsy signings taking their time recovering from knocks. As you would expect

I think most angles on the game have been covered already.

It was a nervous game and a tough game - a game you need to match hustle for hustle, strength for strength, tackle for tackle and we managed that over the course of the game. Stockport knew what to expect and they kept our midfield busy but not overwhelmed. They were tight and strong in the middle and looked a very strong, physical and capable team. They had a very adept knack of immediately moving into and in front of our midfielders after we pass the ball to prevent the return pass and this worked very well for them up to a point.

Personally I was delighted with the fighting spirit - the passion, grit and determination shown by all the players (and no lack of skill) - this was a win that was ground out of sweat and tears and all the players stood up for themselves against much taller and powerful players.

They looked dangerous up front and our defence looked sluggish and hesitant for the first half hour. Yet for all that, we took the lead. Tom set up Tilley, who made a strong run and with the Stockport defence backing off (don't we all hate that!) he shot from just outside the box. What happened? the ball seemed to trickle into the net. It must have taken a deflection (hard to tell from the highlights) because the alternative is that he just bobbled the shot and the keeper stood and watched.

They looked very good in attack after that and scored a disappointing goal from our perspective - a through ball, a player on the shoulder of our defender, outruns/muscles him and has a one on one. Straight afterwards, they did exactly the same again and could easily have scored their second in two minutes.

That was the turning point for the defence though. They noticeably improved after that.

We were having so much space on the wings, with their narrow formation to try to dominate central midfield, that we managed to push them back and Tom set up Dom perfectly for a one on one but the keeper was sharp enough to save it. Almost immediately afterwards a mind boggling pass back fell to Tom who flicked the ball to Dom and this time he passed the ball into the net. Great first touches from both and at that point just about deserved.

In the second half both teams came out very strongly and there was not much in it at the start. Then Balagizi, who had a steady game throughout, tracked his man from half way and lunged in just outside the penalty area. We all know what happens next - Corey stays at one end of the goal and hopes that the smallest wall in football can stop the ball going into the opposite corner. He is 6'7", he needs to stand in the middle of the goal for those types of free kicks.

Then the winner and more relief than celebration. Tom Nics set up Nick who simply ran at their retreating defence and sent a rocket into the net. Outstanding goal and well deserved.

It was to and fro from then and although both teams had chances, the energy seemed to go out of the game and there didn't really look like there would be any more goals.

For the last 10-15 minutes we camped in our box and let them come at us but the shape and the determination were more than capable of reducing them to, well, no shots on goal in that period. I do wish though that we would keep a man on halfway to pick up clearances - a number of times, if Nads had been on halfway and he had got some of the clearances he can just run and see what happens - run on goal, run it into the corner, keep possession and allow us some respite.

Other than their goals and one outstanding save from Corey, in the second half, all the other saves were routine. Once the defence settled down they looked very capable and secure.

Moving Balagizi further forward in the second half had a tremendous effect on our attacking play and pushed us further up the pitch. We put in a lot of crosses but we have nobody in the middle with any height - we should really be looking at other options in those circumstances - cut backs or more direct shots.

Deserved win? probably but Stockport will feel the same.

We didn't dominate the game but we were not overwhelmed either - it was a gritty win and a necessary win. We have played better this season and lost.

My man of the match was Tom Nics - three assists and non-stop running the whole game - he has such fantastic close control that he can create chances from almost any situation. Ludi (Ludo in old money) and the rest of the defence deserve great credit after the first half hour - I thought Corey was secure in goal - except for the free kick - it is not a difficult fix. I thought Tom Fellowes was sporadic - he was not in game for long spells but was great to watch when he was. Hess and Balgizi were solid in the middle but did give away possession a little too easily at times. When Balagizi was moved forward he made some intelligent runs, although the ball was rarely fed into him.

Up front Dom is different class - his movement, on and off the ball, his first touch, his instincts are outstanding and his eye for a goal is first class - he has a great coolness in front of goal and is clinical. Great game from him.

Let's celebrate a hard fought win and the relief it brings.

KEVIN BETSY'S RED ARMY!

I believe he has gone back to his parent club until he's fit again. No idea how long that will take. Corey will be established as first choice keeper by then. Balcombe did start our first game of the season, but whether KB had chosen him as our number one, or was going to alternate between the two to see who did best we won't know, as Balcombe got injured so early on. Will he come back? We have two back up keepers at the moment, and Morris is only out on loan until January (although I reckon the loan will be extended come January, and we might not see Glenn back at the Broadfield as a CTFC player, sadly)

Sadly, I agree with you

Noteworthy postscript from the Tuesday game from a Stockport fan

It was the well known racist song chanted at Forest’s Jason Lee in the 90s