MATCH REPORT: Stockport County 4, Wanderers 3

IF County are as hard up as Andy Kilner reckons, Sam Allardyce can expect a decorator's bill landing on his desk in the next few days, writes BEN Chief Soccer Writer Gordon Sharrock.

Saturday was one occasion when only a sado-masochist would have enjoyed being a fly on the dressing room wall because, by all accounts the Bolton boss's half-time assault on his players' eardrums was scorching enough to blister the paint.

Every word of criticism was justified after Stockport had accepted an open invitation to storm into a 3-0 lead. "Fancy Dans" he called them ... "Big Time Charlies"! He accused them of complacency and, most damning of all, questioned their commitment.

And that's the first time since the Worthington Cup semi-final fiasco at Tranmere in January that the manager has seen fit to level that particular accusation.

The result - losing their unbeaten away record to a side that had won just once at home since Boxing Day last year - suggests he was wasting his breath. But a sensational fightback not even the most optimistic of supporter would have thought possible - cruelly trumped by Aaron Wilbraham's dramatic late winner - was as much a testimony to the manager's powers of motivation as to the ability of his team.

The way things are going, both are going to be tested to the hilt if Wanderers are to sustain their challenge at the top of the table!

The signs are not good. Six points from a possible 18 has turned a flying start into a stutter and the challenge is in danger of stalling altogether.

But, if Wanderers can react as positively at Watford tomorrow night as they did so impressively in the second half at Edgeley Park, then all will not be lost. If they defend as suicidally as they did for 18 minutes in the first half and for one decisive moment at the end, then they will go to Vicarage Road like lambs to the slaughter.

At 0-0 and 3-3 there looked to be only one winner - and it wasn't Stockport.

Wanderers looked comfortable, maybe too comfortable for their own good, until Jussi Jaaskelainen - under no pressure at all - tried to be too clever with a routine clearance and the ever-alert Kevin Cooper latched onto the loose ball and crossed for emergeny-striker Andy Tod to swipe in a shot that deflected in off Mark Fish.

A minute later, a long throw-in brought chaos in the goalmouth and two County players got headers in, Jaaskelainen's fellow Finn Jarkko Wiss getting the one that counted after Cooper's had rebounded off the crossbar.

Stockport were suddenly transformed from a demoralised, injury-ravaged side into a team brimming with confidence. They were in sight of the twin towers of giant-killing and derby glory and didn't need asking twice to ram home their advantage.

Actually Ian Moore did. The striker who looks destined to become the latest asset to be stripped from cash-strapped County - possibly this week - thought he'd sprung the offside trap on the half hour until Gudni Bergsson raced back to make a sensational saving tackle. But he couldn't be caught 10 minutes later when Cooper's through-ball gave him a second chance.

It's been a long time since Wanderers have looked in such disarray, which made the second half transformation all the more remarkable.

Ian Marshall led the charge, as he'd led the attack from the first whistle. The feature of his recent performances at centre-back has been his almost uncanny knack of winning practically every aerial challenge and he showed the same ability at centre-forward.

If there was an element of luck about his first goal, which bobbled in from the edge of the box to give Wanderers a 59th minute reward for their spirited start to the second half, the volley he set up for Michael Ricketts 10 minutes later and the header he powered in from Simon Charlton's superb left wing cross six minutes from time was copybook stuff.

If Wanderers deserve credit for their fightback, which put them in touching distance of the summit of the mountain they'd had to climb because of their own failings, Stockport must be praised for their response. Again Wanderers contributed to their own downfall, this time Robbie Elliott failing to deal with a free kick into the box, but the finish from Wilbraham - who had rushed back from a loan spell in Norway to be included on the subs' bench - was impressive to say the least.

The good football they played in patches, the spirit they showed in the second half and the impact Ricardo Gardner made after replacing Bo Hansen after just 32 minutes, were points of consolation at the end of a dramatic derby that had such a cruel twist. But, if Wanderers are to mount a serious challenge they can ill afford the lapses and inconsistencies that have dogged their performances against Blackburn, Fulham, Gillingham - even Wolves and Forest - in recent weeks.

Having conceded only two goals in their first four away games, they let in three in an 18-minute period against a side that had only scored five in six previous home games!

The omens weren't good. Allardyce has never won at Edgeley Park, either as a player or a manager, and Kilner - Bolton born and bred - has the Indian sign on Wanderers.

But good teams don't allow such factors to come into play and they don't collapse as dramatically as Wanderers did after looking far and away the better side.