Our draw away at Stockport on New Years’ Day takes us to 10 games unbeaten with 8 wins and 2 draws, but it was hard fought and could’ve easily ended in defeat at the death.
Both sides came into the game with injury problems, and the much discussed final Stockport game for Louie Barry didn’t materialise, yet both sides put on a battle of a game.
Blues started the brighter of the two, putting together some neat passing moves. In the first 5 minutes, Willumsson played a fantastic through ball from near the dugouts to play through Taylor Gardner-Hickman one on one. He couldn’t bury his chance, but after some scrapping for the loose ball, Willumsson was there again to lay it off to Alfie May, who took a touch and curled the ball into the far corner with his weaker foot to put Blues ahead.
We couldn’t have asked for a better start, but Stockport responded well and took control of the ball and limited our possession to under 50% for the first time in League One this season. They didn’t create much though, and looked open on the counter. Blues looked to exploit this just before half-time after battling from Gardner-Hickman and a slip from Ethan Pye let Willumsson in on the counter with May ahead of him. He laid a ball off to his striker, forced May slightly wide and his shot was well saved by the feet of Hinchliffe.
Stockport had 52% possession, but didn’t threaten Blues in the first half.
Half time: Stockport 0-1 Blues (May)
However, the second half was a different story. Stockport switched shape and pressed Blues relentlessly the entire half, preventing our usual passing moves from establishing dominance and pinning us back for much of the half, whipping balls into the box with frequency. Jack Diamond’s low effort from just inside the box flew just wide, but Blues repelled most waves of attack without conceding many chances.
We did have one counter where Stansfield ran at the back line scrambling to recover, and the substitute Scott Wright found himself in acres of space to his right. Stanno unfortunately decided to try for goal himself and it was easily blocked – 2-0 here could’ve put the game to bed.
Instead, Stockport’s pressure continued, and just before the 80th minute they were level. Ryan Rydel’s cross was whipped to the far post, and Macauley Southam-Hales climbed over Cochrane to head home. You couldn’t argue against Stockport deserving the equaliser, despite the valiant defending displayed by Blues throughout the second half.
A few minutes later they could’ve been ahead. The ball fell to Southam-Hales on the edge of the box and his half-volley was struck with venom, but couldn’t beat Allsop’s far post.
The referee, who had a poor game and didn’t deal with the physical challenges flying in during the game, signalled for 5 minutes added time at the end of the 90. Blues were still getting pressed right until the final whistle, yet persisted with trying to play out the back with the long ball not proving to be effective. Bielik made a serious error in judgement on the 93rd minute, and passed back to Allsop and sold him short with Wootton meeting the ball first. Allsop was stranded and the goal was gaping, until Klarer came flying in to deny what would’ve been a certain goal. Krystian took responsibility post match and thanked his teammate for saving his blushes.
It was a lacklustre, leggy performance from a Blues side that has played 4 games in 9 days. For the first time this season, we ended the match with less possession than our opponents and despite clear cut chances being equally distributed between the sides, you felt that Stockport probably deserved more than a singular point.
Blues travel to Wigan on Saturday, if the games goes ahead and the flooding clears up. Wigan’s New Year’s Day fixture was postponed, and they’ll have had a full week rest prior to our fixture. Davies might find that he needs to rotate his players to recoup energy levels that we lacked in the second half against Stockport after a tricky schedule.
Blues are still on an unbeaten run, winning 8 and drawing 2 of our last 10, but our performance levels will need to be higher against Wigan, as Wycombe won to reclaim top spot on goal difference. A third draw or a defeat wouldn’t be disastrous, but Davies will want his side to bounce back with a win to keep the points flowing onto the league table.
Full time: Stockport 1-1 Blues (May)