BURTON ALBION 0, STOCKPORT COUNTY 3
Stockport County hit the road for the first time in four weeks and in five League One assignments and revelled in the experience as they enjoyed a three-goal win at struggling Burton Albion.
First-half goals from Lewis Bate, as well as leading club and divisional scorer Louie Barry paved the way for victory before another for Barry put the seal on a dominant team performance to secure a third successive league triumph and clean sheet, and lift County up another position in the table to – appropriately enough – third.
A little history was made for good measure, too, by way of a first-ever maximum points-haul for County against the Brewers following defeat by the odd goal in three at the Pirelli Stadium and a goalless draw in SK3 when the clubs had previously met during 2010/11.
After several days in which sub-zero conditions had persisted, the temperature had thankfully risen for the weekend, accompanied by some breeze and light drizzle (but not the heavy afternoon rain forecast for Burton-upon-Trent), courtesy of Storm Bert – as the Hatters took to the field with a starting line-up unchanged from that at Edgeley Park against Wrexham seven days earlier.
Each squad featured one player with the potential prospect of facing a former club. The County substitutes included Sam Hughes, who had joined the Hatters from Burton during the summer and who, during his time in East Staffordshire, had been named player of the year for 2022/23. And ex-Hatter Ben Whitfield was on the hosts’ bench, having plied his trade at EP as part of County’s 2021/22 National League title-winning campaign.
The Hatters also welcomed back in their dugout Ibby Touray, following his return from international duty with The Gambia, and Callum Camps, following his recovery from a hamstring injury that had kept him out of action for seven weeks.
After a couple of minutes, County fired the contest’s first shot, albeit one that would not have counted, with a flag having been raised for offside as Ryan Rydel stung the palms of home goalkeeper Max Crocombe.
Nearly a quarter of an hour elapsed followed that before the Hatters fashioned a chance-proper with Barry curling an effort beyond the right post. Around the first half’s mid-point, Fraser Horsfall volleyed past the opposite upright after latching on to Ollie Norwood’s free kick from the right. And Callum Connolly blazed over just ahead of the half-hour mark.
But cometh the half-hour itself, cometh the captain to put County ahead. Bate was in the right place at the right time to notch his inaugural competitive goal as a Hatter after a box-to-box break by Barry from a Burton corner had been halted and the ball had landed invitingly for the skipper to tap into an empty net.
Barry then doubled the advantage four minutes before the break, cutting in from the left after Ben Hinchliffe’s long ball upfield had been flicked on by Kyle Wootton and firing past Crocombe for his 12th League One strike of the campaign.
The hosts, bottom of the table at kick off and without a permanent manager, had offered precious little by way of a threat at County’s end, although they did owe a debt of gratitude to Crocombe for preventing a third goal, when, in added time, the ‘keeper brilliantly tipped over an acrobatic attempt from Wootton.
The Brewers, having made a double-substitution upon the resumption, started the new half a tad more brightly, although the first opportunity of it fell to County 10 minutes in as Connolly’s header, from a Norwood corner on the left, was kept out by Crocombe.
Then, two minutes before the hour, Barry struck his second and County’s third, once more cutting in from the left, before unleashing a trademark cracker of a shot beyond the flailing Crocombe and into the far top corner.
A flurry of yellow cards for the Hatters followed, with three, including Horsfall, who will miss the next league fixture, at Birmingham, as a consequence, picking them up from separate incidents in as many minutes.
Barry, to whom the ball fell after a cross from Macauley Southam-Hales had hit the crossbar, went close to claiming a hat-trick only for Crocombe to parry the Aston Villa loanee’s shot.
The hosts looked to reduce their arrears through Tomas Kalinauskas and substitute Billy Bodin, who fired shots that respectively curled just shy of the right post and cleared the bar. And at the other end, the recently introduced Tanto Olaofe saw an effort deflected behind, before Norwood fired over during added time.
Goals: Bate (30), Barry (41, 58) for Stockport County.
Stockport County (3-4-3): Hinchliffe; Connolly, Horsfall, Pye; Southam-Hales (Hughes 82), Norwood, Bate, Rydel (Touray 82); Collar (Camps 71), Wootton (Olaofe 71), Barry (Bailey 71). Subs (unused): Addai, Fevrier.
Attendance: 3,564 (1,700 visitors).
Report: Gareth Evans.