Stockport County Ladies missed the chance to narrow the top-of-the-table gap to a single point.
With Dave Challinor‘s first team resting over the international break, County fans still had action at Stockport Sports Village.
In a fiercely contested game, they succumbed 1-0 to Cheadle Town Stingers in an FA WNL Division One North clash on Sunday. The hosts conceded through an 11th-minute Imogen Porteous-Williams penalty—the difference between the two sides.
As soon as the visitors scored, they went into a low defensive block and invited County to attack and try to break them down.
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Cheadle arrived top of the table, four points clear of the hosts. A win would have brought Stockport Ladies within a point of their derby rivals, with a game in hand.
County came close to restoring parity on a few occasions. First, it was number-nine Jess Battle as she put her leaning first-half header from Em Lysons delivery just wide of the target.
Then, a rasping Kenedy Owen drive from 25 yards rattled the crossbar as County looked for a way back in to the game.
Paige Owen sparked another great County move and was on the edge of the box to finish, but a deflection sent her effort wide.
As the game went on, Cheadle’s defensive prowess came to the fore as they held firm and shut out the game with a clean sheet and went home with all three points.
After two successive defeats, the Stockport County Ladies will have to regroup before a FA Cup tie against Derby County next week.
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