The Third Man

Match Summary:
Stockport County (0) 0
Wycombe Wanderers (0) 0

Venue: Edgeley Park, Stockport
Attendance: 3,837

Stockport: fon Williams, Lynch, Williams (Griffin 73), Swailes, Assoumani, Turnbull, Tansey, Poole (Pilkington 77), Rowe (Proctor 61), Donnelly, Conlon
Subs (unused): Vincent, Halls, Fisher, Ormison
Booked: Tansey

Well that's me told. After Friday's prediction of a goal-fest, yesterday's game ended as a 0-0 draw, albeit a fairly exciting one. Mind you, County did pretty much everything right except score - especially in the second half.

The first half was fairly tense - not helped by the fact County appeared to be playing with only 7 men. Once again, the midfield went AWOL, leaving Donnelly and Conlon with a pretty thankless task up front. The best opportunity of the half fell to Williams, whose free kick from just outside the area was well saved low down by Wycombe keeper Bull. Wycombe had their own chance, mainly through the reluctance of fon Williams to come any further than his 6 yard box. Fortunately this was cleared by a defence that looks more assured with each game.

And that was pretty much it for the first half. The biggest question was would Greater Manchester Police bring in the helicopter and dog squad on the search for 4 missing footballers, last reported to be in the Stockport area.

Whatever Paul Simpson said at half time must have done the trick, as County - now playing with 11 men - really set about Wycombe. Suddenly the ball was being played to Rowe (anonymous in the first half) who was enjoying the opportunity to run with the ball, while Poole was working hard on the right wing. Suddenly County looked threatening, and created numerous opportunities that on another day  would have been converted. The best of these fell to Donnelly, who could have done better with his one-on-one effort having done the hard work getting into the box. The most criminal miss however came from Swailes, who - with the goal at his mercy - made a rather half-hearted attempt to reach a great free kick from Poole.

The introduction of 3 substitutes didn't disrupt the pattern of play. Proctor came on for his home debut and looked good - however he could really do with looking up once in a while and not thinking he can do it all. His insistence on beating the man 2 or 3 times and not passing to a better placed team-mate seemed to me to show a little bit of disrespect to his colleagues and opponent. The impressive Williams (rightly named as Man of the Match) limped off again to be replaced by Griffin, while Poole (who had a good game) was replaced by Pilkington. Chances continued to be created, but that final, killer touch was lacking. The same was true for Wycombe, a little bit of composure may have seen them snatch an unlikely victory in injury time, but luckily for County, the headed finish posed more of a threat to the corner flag.

So, all in all a good performance, and a point gained that last season would have very easily been lost. County look a lot more resilient, and with the discovery of a killer instinct could do well this season. I'm still not too sure about the midfield; Proctor will make a difference with his willingness to run and shoot, but an experienced head wouldn't go amiss in the centre. What really impresses me thus far is the defence - Assoumani is ridiculously calm, Lynch is solid and hard-working, Swailes never seems to shut up, and Williams - although lacking a bit of fitness - really stands out both at the back and coming forwards. A special mention must also be made about the pitch, which looked immaculate in the summer sunshine. Let's hope it manages to hold up once the rugby season starts.

The match wasn't the highlight of the day though.

Whilst getting my new County top and chatting to the shop assistant, the subject of "Where do you come from?" cropped up.
"Milton Keynes" I replied.
Assistant: "That's a fair way - get to many games?"
me: "A few - mostly away but I try to get to as many home games as I can"
Third man: "That's great commitment to your club. I like that"

The "Third man" only happened to be Paul Simpson! What to do now - ask him how he is finding his time at County? Where does he think the side needs strengthening?  Nope - journalism (or spontaneity) was never my strong point, so all I could do was accept his offered handshake and smile, so that exclusive interview with the current County manager will have to wait.

BBC Match report
SCFC Official match report