Stockport County 2
Nantwich Town 1
Cheshire Senior Cup (1st Round replay)

Match Report

Defeated but not disgraced, the Dabbers bowed out of the Cheshire Senior Cup at Edgeley Park to a strong Stockport side.
Nantwich matched County for most of what was a very entertaining game and it took a piece of clinical finishing from ex- Leicester striker Kevin Ellison to clinch the tie just 8 minutes from time.
County had started the brighter and Ellison should have given them the lead when he failed to convert after 11 minutes. He made amends six minutes later, though, supplying the cross from which David Holt netted from close range. Neil Ross missed a couple of opportunities before Nantwich gradually eased themselves into the contest. A long range effort from Nigel Gleghorn flew wide of the post after a clever dummy from Melford Knight had created the opportunity. Then, on 38 minutes, the Dabbers equalised through Gareth Brookes. A shot from Knight was deflected into the path of Adam Vickers who set up Brookes to notch his fifth goal of the campaign.
Just after the interval, the Dabbers could have taken the lead but Brookes failed to connect properly after Chris Hampshire had pulled the ball back. The Hatters then stepped up the pressure again but were restricted to efforts by Ross and Ryan Elderton as the Nantwich defence held firm.
Then, with the tie seemingly heading towards extra time, Man of the Match Ellison powered into the Nantwich box and fired past Stuart Heeps to send County into the Second Round.
A fluent game, played in good spirit and well referred by Mr Hutchinson (who sensibly kept his notebook in his pocket all evening) would have been good experience for Gleghorn’s young side who now turn their attention to Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Arnold Town.

Stockport Spencer, Briggs (Elderton, h-t), Eames, Thomas, Kielthy, Walsh, McLachlan, Lambert, Holt, Ross (Ogden, 75), Ellison (Campbell, 86)
Nantwich Heeps, McVey, Hutchins, Packham, Gleghorn (Hough, 86), Vickers, Travis, Knight, Dawson (Bailey, 77), Hampshire (Wilkinson, 52), Brookes.
Star Man Nigel Gleghorn - Outstanding in a defensive midfield role

Match report written by Michael Chatwin