Cards look for away points

Stockport County v Woking
3pm on Saturday 15 September 2012

Garry Hill’s side will have been given a huge tonic by their splendid 6-1 win over Nuneaton Town last Saturday. Now it’s time to break that away duck! The Cards have been unlucky on their travels not to have picked up a point or two against some fancied sides. Let’s hope that they can get off the mark on Saturday at Stockport County.

WOKING

Garry’s faith in his players was rewarded on Saturday when they notched a very convincing win after a run of four defeats. And they did it without the injured Mark Ricketts and (of course) Gez Sole, and with Loick Pires and Brett Williams both starting on the bench. Bradley Bubb showed great composure to grab his four goals, with the likes of Gavin McCallum, Lee Sawyer and Kevin Betsy giving terrific support. But it still needed Aaron Howe to pull off three top-drawer saves, including from a penalty kick, as some signs of defensive fragility lingered.

It seems unlikely that Garry will make many changes at Stockport, although he may want to play a slightly less attacking formation than last Saturday.

STOCKPORT COUNTY

The Hatters had a tough debut in the Conference Premier last season, flirting with relegation until Jim Gannon took over from Didi Hamann and steered them to 16th place, notching five wins in their last seven games in the process. The general view pre-season was that Gannon’s young side would fare better than last season but would probably not be one of the main challengers for the play-off places. They started well with two wins, at home to Alfreton and away to Grimsby Town, but their subsequent games have yielded three defeats (including home losses to Macclesfield and Tamworth) and three draws, including last Saturday’s respectable 0-0 draw at Newport County. They now lie in 15th place, just above the Cards, with the same number of points (9 from 8 games).

Some players worth looking out for include teenage keeper Ian Ormson, recently selected for the England C squad; experienced defender James Tunnicliffe, with some 150 League appearances to his credit; skipper Joe Connor in midfield; striker Danny Hattersley, signed midway through last season from Lancaster City, with a prolific goalscoring record; and promising striker Craig Hobson, brought in from Stalybridge Celtic. Gannon has just brought back midfielder Matty Mainwaring, who previously played for the club before joining Hull City and who had a loan spell at Edgeley Park last season.

GETTING THERE

Edgeley Park
Hardcastle Road
Edgeley
Stockport
Cheshire
SK3 9DD

By coach
The Cards Trust coach leaves Kingfield at 9.00am. The cost is £22 for Trust members and £29 for non-members. To find out if there are any seats left, ring the Club Shop or email shop@wokingfc.co.uk

By car
Exit the M6 at Junction 19 (sign-posted 'Manchester Airport, Stockport A55, M56 East') and at the roundabout turn right onto the A556. At the Bowden roundabout after 4.2 miles, turn right (sign-posted 'Manchester M56') onto the M56 motorway. Exit the M56 motorway after 6.9 miles (sign-posted 'Stockport M60, Sheffield M67') onto the M60. Exit the M60 at Junction 1 (sign-posted 'Stockport Town Centre'). At the roundabout, follow signs to 'Cheadle A560' also 'Stockport County FC' into Hollywood Way. Go straight on at the first set of traffic lights and turn right at the next (sign-posted 'Cheadle A560, Stockport County FC') onto the A560 towards 'Ye Olde Woolpack' pub. After 1.1 miles, turn left (no signpost, by the 'Farmers Arms') onto the B5465 Edgeley Road. After approximately 1 mile turn right into Dale Street at the traffic lights and take the second left into Hardcastle Road for the stadium.
There are a number of car parks near the ground.

By train
There are frequent trains direct from London Euston to Stockport with a journey time of just under two hours. Trains leave at 00, 20 and 40 minutes past the hour e.g. the 11.40 arrives at 13.36, the 12.00 at 13.55 and the 12.20 at 14.16. Trains back are at 04, 23 and 43 minutes past the hour.

Stockport Railway Station is about ten minutes’ walk from Edgeley Park. Walk down steps from platform and turn left (opposite direction to booking office). Walk up Station Road, cross the main road at 'The Blue Bell' and continue up the hill towards the roundabout. Take the A5464 (Mercian Way) and turn left into Caroline Street for the stadium.

ADMISSION PRICES

Adults: £16
Over 65s, Under 21s & Students: £11
Under 16s: £3

NEXT GAME

The Cards are at home the following Saturday (22 September) when high-flying Gateshead are the visitors to Kingfield. Please come along and give generously to the collection which will be held to defray some of the costs of Gez Sole’s medical treatment.

Come on, you Cards!