STOCKPORT COUNTY 3, CHARLTON ATHLETIC 1
Stockport County’s FA Cup campaign continued with gusto as a Will Collar hat-trick saw them
knock out League One Charlton in their live televised second-round replay at Edgeley Park.
They did so, too, having gone behind early on, before Collar got them back on level terms
midway through the first half, and struck two more, including a penalty, after the break to
seal the tie.
County took to the field on a cold, clear night with an unchanged line-up from that which had
started the League Two fixture at Hartlepool four days earlier. As had been the case for the
original cup-tie in South East London, a couple of young players yet to make their senior
County debuts at Football League level – on this occasion, strikers Keane Barugh and Daniel
Okwute – were among nine substitutes permitted for the competition.
In the course of a bright start, County earned the evening’s first corner, with just over a minute on
the clock, and Ryan Croasdale unleashed a shot from outside the box that narrowly cleared the
crossbar.
The managerless visitors, whose hotseat Ben Garner had vacated two days ahead of the
replay, showed, by contrast, seven changes from their previous Friday-evening starters in
the league against Cheltenham.
But from their first corner, in the seventh minute, they took the lead, after County failed to clear Charlie Kirk’s delivery from the left and the ball went in following a deflection off Akil Wright.
Richard Chin burst into the County area around the quarter-hour mark, before blasting over,
and Chuks Aneke drilled beyond the right post, as the Addicks looked to extend their early
advantage.
The next scoring opportunity fell to the Hatters and saw them go close to equalising, as a
low cross on the right from Macauley Southam-Hales found Paddy Madden whose stooped
header was goal-bound before being caught on the bounce by visiting goalkeeper Craig
MacGillivray.
But with their following chance, and shortly after the first half’s mid-point, they did get back
on level terms as Ryan Rydel struck the right post with a low shot, before Collar buried the
rebound.
Collar and Madden, on separate occasions before the interval, got behind the Charlton
defence to prod the ball goal-wards – only for each effort to be gathered by MacGillivray.
The Hatters fashioned the first chance of the new half, with a Rydel free-kick from the left
finding Collar, who glanced his header beyond the near post. And with another, more
central free-kick shortly afterwards, Rydel drew gasps a-plenty by hitting the opposite
upright.
Regular Charlton captain George Dobson, who on this occasion had been introduced as a
substitute upon the resumption, sparked no little controversy when he appeared to bundle
Southam-Hales into the Cheadle End advertising boards, but escaped punishment.
The visitors proceeded to make additional, and attacking, substitutions by bringing on Corey
Blackett-Taylor, Diallang Jaiyesimi and leading scorer Jes Rak-Sakyi. But County had the
next chance of note – and duly converted it to go in front, as Myles Hippolyte’s cross from the left was knocked down by Kyle Wotton for Collar to rifle home his, and the Hatters’, second goal.
Seven minutes later it was three for both Collar and County, after Dobson’s foul on
substitute Ollie Crankshaw saw referee Scott Oldham point to the spot and Collar stepped up to
slot the penalty past MacGillivray and into the bottom-left corner.
A whopping, World Cup-like nine minutes were weathered to see the Hatters through, and
they will next host Walsall in the third round in early January.
Goals: Collar (25, 73 and 81pen) for Stockport County. Wright (7og) for Charlton.
Stockport County (3-5-2): Hinchliffe; Wright, Horsfall, R Johnson; Southam-Hales (Crankshaw 67),
Collar (Camps 90), Croasdale (C Johnson, 90), Hippolyte (MacDonald 90), Rydel; Wootton, Madden (Brown, 81). Subs (unused): Jones, Evans, Okwute, Barugh.
Attendance: 6,242 (345 visitors).