New West Bromwich Albion manager Gary Megson made a dream return to former
club Stockport County as his side claimed a vital three points with a 1-0
victory.
The manager, who was sacked by County nine months ago, still had the welcoming
boos of the home fans ringing in his ears when Lee Hughes put Albion ahead after
just 10 seconds.
A long punt out of defence by Graham Potter was left by Stockport defender
Mike Flynn and goalkeeper Carlo Nash. Hughes nipped in between the two to take
the ball past Nash and roll it into the empty net.
And just a minute later, Hughes could have doubled the lead when he almost
profited from further hesitation by Nash.
Another long ball was misjudged by the County goalkeeper who found himself
outside of his area with the ball at his feet. Hughes tackled the keeper but
both players fell in a tangle of legs and the referee waved away Albion appeals
for a free-kick.
Albion were by far the more motivated team in the first half and Hughes was a
constant thorn in the side of the home defence.
On several occasions he burst clear on the right to set up colleagues. On 26
minutes Hughes was released down the right and cut in to feed Nicky Evans whose
left-foot shot just cleared the bar.
County were restricted to long-range efforts which never troubled Albion
keeper Brian Jenson.
And the fans who had come to welcome back giant striker Kevin Francis to the
club where he made his name in the early 90s were left disappointed as the
striker failed to get the service he needed.
But the second half was a totally different game. County came out with renewed
passion and lay siege to the Albion goal.
Ian Moore had four headed attempts at goal in the space of just 20 minutes,
three were saved and the fourth flashed inches wide.
Moore proved to be the inspiration as he set up Ian Lawson on two occasions
but the striker failed to score.
But Albion had to thank their goalkeeper for a fantastic save from an Ian
Lawson header in the dying seconds, the keeper flung himself to his left to
somehow manage to tip the ball over the bar as Lawson's header looked bound for
the top corner.
The result lifts Albion further away from the relegation zone but sees County
slip to their 12th game without a win.
Teams
Stockport: Nash, Connelly, Flynn, Gannon, Nicholson, Bennett,
Cooper, Dinning, Allen (Lawson 60), Moore, Francis.
Subs Not Used: Gray, Fradin, Elliott, Bergersen.
Booked: Nicholson.
West Brom: Jensen, Van Blerk, Carbon, Potter,
McDermott (Oliver 61), Sigurdsson (Raven 22), Townsend,
J. Chambers, Evans (De Freitas 76), Quinn, Hughes.
Subs Not Used: Adamson, Fredgaard.
Goals: Hughes 1.
Att: 8,238
Ref: R Furnandiz (Doncaster).
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