Nantwich Town claim a surprise win over Premiership side Stoke City (From Crewe Guardian)

Nantwich Town claim a surprise win over Premiership side Stoke City

1:46pm Friday 17th July 2009

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Nantwich Town 2 Stoke City 0

NANTWICH claimed a surprising, yet deserved, win in their first ever match against a Premiership side.

It was an impressive display to kick off pre-season against a Stoke City side that contained eight players with first team experience.

The Dabbers had been forced to make changes to their line-up less than half an hour before kick off after central defender Darren Tinson was pulled out with a back injury.

That left midfielder Chris Flynn to join Richard Sutton at the heart of defence and substitute Omar Mahmood moved from the bench to start on the right of midfield.

The hosts were the first to show with Ashley Carter, Michael Lennon and Omar Mahmood making good runs that kept the Stoke defence on their toes for the majority of the game.

Meanwhile, at the other end, an unfamiliar Dabbers back four were eager to show their qualities and Sutton in particular produced some timely interventions to keep out Liam Lawrence, Richard Cresswell and Michael Tonge.

But the deadlock was broken in the 26th minute when a ball from Ashley Carter fell between Ibrahima Sonko and Ryan Shawcross and Carter pounced to deftly lift the ball past Steve Simonsen.

Nine minutes later, Carter went close to extending the lead when he chased a through ball to the by-line and in a one-on-one with Simonsen but swung his effort into the side-netting.

For Stoke, the only real effort of note came in the 38th minute when the almost redundant Lee Jones saved a close range shot from Lawrence.

The second half was, by and large, a repeat of the first period and in the 50th minute, Dabbers midfielder Glyn Blackhurst fluffed a great opportunity to make it 2-0 when he shot wide from close range.

On 54 minutes, a well-taken free kick by Tonge flashed wide of Jones’ left hand post before Cresswell ruined a great chance to get back on level terms when he lofted the ball over the angle of post and bar with only Jones to beat.

But it was the home side that once again went close to capitalising on a Stoke defensive error after Simonsen was slow to react to a high ball in the six-yard box leaving Lennon to reach for a header that agonisingly went wide of the left-hand post.

However, the persistent Lennon, who looks surprisingly fit following his recent swine flu scare, latched on to a through ball eight yards out in the 57th minute and, despite Simonsen’s effort to cover, he provided a clinical finish.

With around 20 minutes remaining, both sides rang the changes but Nantwich continued to ask the questions and Blackhurst went close with a free header at Simonsen’s left-hand post.

With 10 minutes remaining, Stoke stepped up the pace and Cresswell’s low shot forced Jones into a diving save.

But there was still time for the Dabbers to go close again, Blackhurst rising above the defence to meet an inch-perfect Chris Shaw free kick, only for Simonsen to turn away his bullet header.

Nantwich assistant coach Peter Hall said: “A well-deserved result against a strong Premiership side. I gave the lads pre-match instructions to go out there and play with confidence and desire.

“To their credit, they followed our instructions to the letter and, despite the late changes we were forced to make, it worked well for us in the end.

“Both on and off the ball our movement was almost faultless but we mustn’t allow our heads to reach the clouds on the back of this excellent result.

“We are looking sharp at the moment but the discipline will have to remain constant throughout the whole of the season if we are to go that one step further and move to the next level.”

Nantwich: Lee Jones, Jake Sedgemore, Chris Shaw, Chris Flynn, Richard Sutton, Dave McPherson, Omar Mahmood, Glyn Blackhurst, Ashley Carter, Michael Lennon, Dave Tickle. Subs: Nathan Southern, Dave Robinson, Dominic Brownsword.

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