THE DRUMMER WAS allowed in and Stockport County finally found their rhythm as two goals from Glenn Murray earned them their first victory of the season at the seventh attempt.
Gareth Eccleston was ejected from the 1-0 defeat by Derby County in the Carling Cup last month, but, after discussions, club officials allowed him into Edgeley Park to keep the beat from the Cheadle End as Stockport finally clicked.
The voice of Jim Gannon, the home team’s manager, acted as percussion for much of the opening period and again in second-half injury time after Richard Walker had halved the deficit. The Irishman used Michael Raynes, who has attracted interest from Liverpool with his performances as a central defender, as a midfield shield.
Gannon felt that his team should have recorded three points sooner and said: “We got what we deserved today and the last five games have gone. I felt we had more about us than we’d seen and results had reflected so I was delighted with the victory.”
With one of the highest average attendances in the division, expectation is high at County and it is a similar story for Bristol Rovers. They have made an unremarkable start to the campaign, and Junior Agogo, the striker, joined Nottingham Forest on transfer deadline day last week, to be replaced by Rickie Lambert, Rochdale’s former County forward, so even before the defeat, there was plenty for Lennie Lawrence, the club’s director of football, to ponder as he enjoyed a coffee and some chocolate in the stand during the warm-up.
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His team did have the better of the early stages yesterday. Ryan Green, the full back, posed a threat down the right and one of his crosses was headed wide by Walker, whose strike partner, Lewis Haldane, fresh from a substitute appearance for the Wales Under-21 side on Saturday, bounced a shot at James Spencer, the goalkeeper.
The home team began to fire midway through the opening half and six minutes before the interval, Gannon’s men took the lead when a driven pass by Michael Rose was met by James Hunt. Under pressure from Tesfaye Bramble, the Rovers midfield player knocked the ball into space for Murray, who calmly tucked the ball past Phillips.
Rovers tried to respond immediately after half-time, but an effort by Walker clipped a post. A long clearance by County led to their second goal. Byron Anthony played a weak back-pass, Murray almost nipped in and an attempted clearance by Craig Hinton rebound off the striker into the net.
After Lambert had an effort blocked, Walker pulled a goal back from close range with eight minutes left, but County then withstood heavy pressure to close the game out.
Paul Trollope, the Rovers coach, said that his team had been undone by the defending. He said: “If you make slips at the back like that, it doesn’t matter how much heart you’ve got, it will come to nothing.”
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Stockport County (4-1-3-2): J Spencer — M Bowler (sub: J Taylor, 72min), A Williams, G Owen, M Rose — M Raynes — K Briggs, T Dinning, A Griffin — T Bramble (sub: L Dickinson, 56), G Murray 39,53 (sub: M Robinson, 90). Substitutes not used: T Deasy, A Le Fondre. Booked: Bramble, Dickinson. FORM WLDDLL NEXT Boston United (a) Bristol Rovers (4-4-2): S Phillips — R Green, C Hinton, B Anthony, A Lescott (sub: C Carruthers, 84) — S Igoe, C Disley (sub: S Campbell, 71), J Hunt, A Sandell — R Walker 83, L Haldane (sub: R Lambert, 58). Substitutes not used: S Shearer, S Elliott. Booked: Anthony. FORM LWLWLL NEXT Rochdale (h)