Stockport Spartans FC

Evening Spartans..... With one league game left, please see the latest player stats. To keep this current, I have removed any players who have played less than 5 games.

Afternoon Spartans - Here are the latest Player Stats for the season including ratings for our last game against Moor Reserves....

Happy New Year Spartans - Here are the latest player stats including last Sundays game against Edgeley Villa...

Millbrow Reserves 4 - 5 Stockport Spartans

We aren't bottom of the league... We aren't, We aren't bottom of the league.

Goal Scorers: Luke, Tris x 2, Ben M, Clinton

Man of the Match: Tristan Catterall

Team: Andy, Marvin, Nick, Lee, Mike D, Luke, Grant Snr, Jay, Chris, Clinton, Tris. Subs: Ben, David, Matthew.

Match Report...

We won..... x

SDSL: League Game Review – Sunday 19th October 2014

Edgeley Villa 2 – Stockport Spartans 1 (HT 0-0)

Man of the Match – Lee Dunkerley

Team: Andy 7, Marvin Njie 7, Ben 7, Grant Njie 6, David Fillingham 6, Luke 7, Kieran 7, Chris 7, Lee 8, Clinton 7, Tris 7. Subs: Sam 7, Matthew 7, Jack 7.

Goal: Sam – assisted by Kieran.

Match Report:

Stockport Spartans had a strong side available against Edgeley Villa with Lee Dunkerley available to play and captain Ben McDonald making his comeback from injury. This provided the side with confidence heading into their division four tie against Edgeley Villa and this confidence was evident in the quality of the Spartans play in the first 30 minutes with the Spartans enjoying the majority of the possession and creating good chances. Lee and Luke both tested the keeper early on with free kicks from the edge of the box and Luke nodded just wide from a corner.

At 35 minutes, a great diagonal ball from Kieran split the Villa defence and nearly put Clinton through on goal but unfortunately the ball was slightly over hit and the keeper had time to rush out and smother.

As the half progressed Edgeley did begin to create some chances but these were limited to wild shots from outside of the area.
Into the second half and with the score still 0 – 0 the Spartans had their first lapse of concentration at the back which led to them conceding a very poor goal at 47 minutes from a snap shot at the edge of the area. The Edgeley Villa forward was simply afforded too much time on the ball and his low shot was unfortunately seen too late by keeper Andy.

Just 3 minutes later and after winning a free kick in deep in Villa’s half, the Spartans found themselves 2 -0 down as the cleared ball made it down the left too easily and with Ben still getting back from the free kick the ball across the area evaded the out stretched leg of Grant and David was beaten to the ball by Villa’s big centre forward who toe poked in.

The Spartans pushed on in search for a reply and created a number of chances with Chris coming close to equalising only to be fouled by a ‘kicking keeper’ which was missed by the referee. Edegeley continued to assert their physical approach throughout the second half which left many Spartan players with bumps and bruises. From one such bump forward Tristen was injured and needed to be substituted with 25 minutes left to play.

The Spartans finished very strongly with Clinton going close on two occasions with a shot across the face of goal and forcing a good save from the Villa keeper at his far post. With 10 minutes remaining Spartans pulled a goal back after a great ball into Clinton from Chris was controlled and passed out wide to Kieran who provided a sublime ball across the area which was finished beautifully by Sam bending it across the keeper into the side of the net.

The Spartans pushed on for the equaliser but unfortunately they were unable to level the game and will look back at this match as ‘the one which got away’. For the first time, the Spartans had been the better side, played the better football but unfortunately two poor moments in the first 5 minutes of the second half ultimately provided a task too much.

vs Edgeley Villa 2-1 FT

Stockport Spartans - September Player of The Month and Player Ratings..

September Player of The Month - Luke Stafford (Many Congrats)..

Please see below latest player ratings including the latest game against Moor Reserves...

SDSL: League Game Review – Sunday 12th October 2014

Moor Reserves 4 – Stockport Spartans 0 (HT 1:0)

Man of the Match – Andy Potter

Special Mentions to Grant Njie and Tris who both received 3 votes each.

Team: Andy Potter 9, Marvin Njie 7, Tris Catterall 8, Mike James 7, David Fillingham 7, Luke Stafford 7, Kieran Lunn 8, Chris Edge 6, Clinton Njie 7, Matt Bevins 6, Subs: Mike Dawson 7, Beau Gould 7, Jack Bullock 7

After the impressive display from Stockport Spartans in their last game, the confidence of the team was high when going into the match against Moor Reserves – and it certainly showed. The opening 15 minutes was dominated by the Spartans, with good passes and clever interplay, with débutante Kieran Lunn making an impressive start. As the play continued, Clinton Njie’s shot from the left was scrambled off the line after being hit off the post – with Stockport Spartans unlucky not to be in the lead. This may have been a wakeup call for Moor Reserves who started to press more in the latter of the half, but with some impressive and confident defending from Tris Catterall and great saves and a commandeering presence of fresh keeper Andy Potter (Spartans’ 7th keeper this season) made the chances for Moor Reserves unable to get a goal. Returning player Grant Njie and regular Mike James, were all playing in unfamiliar positions in defence, yet it wouldn’t have been noticeable as their confident play complimented the team. A free kick was given to the Spartans on the edge of the box with Luke Stafford shooting on target. Sadly, it was into the arms of the goal keeper. Spartans continued to play with confidence but Moor Reserves still persisted and eventually got a goal at 35 minutes. The first half ended 1-0 to Moor Reserves.

The second half of a football match is usually where the Spartans show their true talent, alas, in this rare occasion, the 1-0 score-line may have either caused heads to go down or players to be more on edge, as Moor Reserves pressed even harder, stretching the midfield and pushing the defence to the limits. It was an impressively taken shot and an unlucky ball that gave Moor Reserves the opportunity to increase their lead to 3-0, with Spartans chances very limited. However, that isn’t to say there weren’t any, with Clinton and Chris Edge unlucky to get on the score sheet in the second half. With Jack Bullock making his birthday debut for the club as substitute, there was even an opportunity for him to be rewarded with an assist. But it wasn’t to be and it was an unlucky error which meant Moor Reserves made the score 4-0 with only a few minutes of the game left to play. Once again, the match resulted in a scoreline that didn’t reflect the effort and performance of the team that is improving in every game they play. An excellent performance overall.