Stockport Report: Saxons Get Draw against Colne, Drop to Third

There wasn't too much news coming out of Stockport this week, so this ought to be a pretty brief report. The big story was Saturday's match in which the Saxons were vying for their fifth consecutive win. The team had been on a brilliant run of form and climbed to second in the NWCFL table.

Unfortunately, they couldn't keep the streak alive. The good news is that they managed to stay unbeaten in the five-match stretch, though. Colne came in as a midtable team, and it seemed that the Saxons would be able to snag all three points. Unfortunately, Colne had other ideas, and came out playing ferociously in the first half. When the teams went to the changing room for the break, Colne were up 0-1 on a ball that managed to just get by keeper Russell Saunders.

The Saxons did what they've done a lot of lately, and came out scoring goals in the second half. In the 67th minute, Kyle Hamid converted a free kick into a curling upper-corner goal, brining Stockport even with Colne. Later, John Marsden contributed again, sending a perfect ball forward to new(ish) signing Liam Irwin. It was the 19-year-old's second goal in as many matches for the team. Irwin had previously been a part of the Bolton Wanderers' youth system.

But, the three points were not to be for the Saxons as Colne converted a penalty coming off of a handball. By all accounts that I've read (admittedly, all with a Stockport bias) the call was harsh, but there's nothing to be done for that. The Saxons had to settle for the single point from the match. Assistant manager Joey Dunn didn't seem too happy with the result, but was glad to see the team battle back from the 0-1 deficit: "I thought the game was a little disappointing in terms of the levels of performance we need to get to... Positively we battled back second half and got ourselves in a winning position but were not professional or disciplined enough to see it through." Be sure to click that link for Dunn's full comment as well as a post-match reaction from John Marsden.

Speaking of Marsden, the NWCFL keeps a goals-per-game table, and Marsden sits third in the league as of Saturday September 29, with .933 goals per match. That's pretty great to see, but it Liam Irwin keeps up the pace he's on, Marsden may have some competition soon.

Finally, be sure to check out this photo gallery of the team's mascot, Storm the Saxon.

The Saxon's next match comes this evening at 1945 GMT at Wigan Robin Park. You can read the team's official preview here. On Saturday, the Saxons take on AFC Blackpool in Stockport at 1500 GMT.

Up the Saxons!