Hitting the heights with super County

by STEVE the man from the BELLIS Supporters Club

Stockport County 2-1 ECFC 

Scorers: Young

Attendance: 2767

I GOT a big kick out of Saturday night! And for once it was not the result of arguing with an over-officious nightclub bouncer. It really is quite difficult to explain how I felt on Saturday, but I'll try! The feeling I experienced was the equivalent of being woken up by an horrendously loud alarm clock-only to discover that it is Sunday and you don't have to get up. It was also like buying a bag of Revels and discovering that all the spherical ones are orange flavoured, with not a coconut in sight. It was even like arriving home tired after a hard day at work and discovering that the budgie had cleaned its own cage out. Yes, on Saturday night at around 5 p.m. I was absolutely bloody delighted. The reason, rather like most of my friends, is SIMPLE! Stockport County were perched on the top of the Fourth Division. Not third or second, but TOP! As a result, I was on top of the world! This historic rise to fame prompted the usual debates as everyone pondered on when County last headed the division.

Personally I don't give two hoots when County were last at the top. The past is history. What a clever chap I am. The most important fact is that we are there! Yet we very nearly weren't the final few minutes of Saturday's clash with Exeter were even more dramatic than the Alan Bradley antics in Coron- ation Street. Let me explain. The official last day of our British summer began in a rather British summerlike fashion, i.e. gale force winds, dismal drizzle and a large looming collection of clouds. County's injury forecast was similar Logan still out, Payne still out, Beaumont still out- and there was even a slight doubt over Bill Williams, but to the relief of everybody he recovered!

There were, however, bright spells and Malcolm Brown returned to the defence, leaving Andy Thorpe, County's equivalent of a chess piece, to move forward once more into the midfield. The team might be changeable these days, but the football certainly isn't. County started in the style that has brought the punters streaming back to Edgeley Park and the pepped-up Popsiders did not have to wait too long to voice their appreciation. After just ten minutes, Ian mcInerney was on the receiving end of a Bill Williams free-kick and he nonchalontly swept past two players to fire a powerful shot against the underside of the bar and into the Exeter net. The remainder of the first half was won by the wind, which had 75 per cent of the possession. The second half was greeted by driving rain, but nothing, it seemed, could dampen the Stopfordian spectators. When Keith Edwards placed County's second goal in the net from a most acute angle, the celebrations began. Enter the party pooper, Exeter's substitute Richard Young. His appearance soon irritated the County faithful-who decided to abbreviate his first name. Young was obviously ordered to put himself about, which he did in the most unorthodox manner. His fouls were almost as frequent as Tranmere Rovers' television appearances, yet somehow he managed to stay out of referee Mr. Aplin's book. Bill Williams was not impressed, he too was fortunate not to see his name in print, when he decided to use his head-Butt  Mr. Aplin let most things go and the Exeter side suddenly found their form. Young, not exactly an Edgeley favourite to start with, soon became even more unpopular by lashing home Exeter's goal, which urged the Grecians on even more. The County defence however, stood firm and despite some close, and I mean CLOSE shaves, the home side kept the score in tact.

A little later after some prompting he decided to inspect the pitch. Now I don't know how good this remarkable referees eyesight is, but he can't have looked at the same pitches as me not that I would know! Because Mr. Green in his wisdom decided to inspect the pitch half an hour before the teams arrived and he then failed to inform either team of his dubious decision to cancel the match. As a result the Supporters Club match was the only cancellation in the Stockport District Sunday League- and it was totally unnecessary. My final comment this week goes out to a chap by the name of Mick Middles. Mr. Middles writes a column in the Manchester Evening News on Monday evenings and he is well known for his observations on Stockport County F.C. In last Monday's scribblings, Mick explained that he doesn't go to County these days because he doesn't like the big crowds. Oh Michael, please, come along, we have reserved a lovely little spot for you in a pleasant corner of our ground, where your only companions will be two wonderful stewards and a few pigeon droppings. Please let us know if we can "take the Mickey" to our beloved Mecca of football! 

CRACKER, MACKA! Malcolm Brown con- gratulates lan McInerney on his vital opener against Exeter. Special mention must be made of Paul Jones. He headed away, very nearly making contact with the woodwork with his head on two occasions. The final whistle must have seemed like a paracetamol to Jonesy - it certainly brought relief to many frantic fans. It didn't take long for the news to arrive from around the Division, both Southend and Lincoln failed to win, resulting in the top Hatters. County's players and of course the gaffer Danny Bergara have worked jolly hard this season and their current placing is well deserved.

Stockport 2 (1)
McInerney 9 Edwards 50

Exeter City 1 (0)
Young 79

• On the following day the supporters team could have moved into second place by beating close rivals Ludworth. Unfortunately this was prevented by a strange encounter with a strange referee. The referee decided to call the game off at 8.50 a.m., because he had been walking his dog and had noticed how wet the ground was. The fact that he was more than five miles from the ground didn't affect his judgement.