Stockport Co. 0 Wanderers 0 ANYONE who still thinks Sam Allardyce is a long ball merchant should have been at Edgeley Park last night. Compared to Stockport, Big Sam's Bolton are Brazil.

For County, read Bury under Stan Ternent - fiery, fast, ferocious and, above all, willing and able to make the ball travel great distances in the air with monotonous regularity.

It's understandable considering that to have taken on Wanderers in a pure football contest would have been suicidal. It's equally understandable to want to get the ball into the air when you have a 6ft 7in giant in the form of Kevin Francis up front. There's also no arguing with them adopting a style which is effective rather than pretty after a dreadful run which has earned them a meagre four points out of the last 36 available.

You can't blame them but you don't have to like it.

By contrast, it doesn't take much to make Wanderers play with a swagger and a run of just three defeats in 13, an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley looming ever larger and a big win over play-off rivals Fulham fresh in the mind was more than enough to inspire them to keep the good times rolling - and do it in style.

These were two desperate teams. Stockport desperate for a win and Wanderers desperate to get their passing going. The result was a game with all the subtlety of a Bernard Manning joke.

You had to admire Stockport's workrate and commitment. Their hundred mile an hour style rocked Wanderers, particularly in a first half in which the home side was unlucky not to have taken the lead. When they were not in possession they hunted in packs to knock Wanderers off their slick stride.

It was a night in which Allardyce will have learned more about his defence than any other department and he will have been delighted with what he saw.

The manager is keen to point out that the team has kept clean sheets in more than half the games since he took charge. The defence faced a giant challenge last night - literally in the form of Francis - and came through it with flying colours.

The crosses, punts forward and long throws came in from all angles and it was testimony to the resilience of the back four that they soaked it all up without ever looking over stretched.

Mark Fish looked like he needed a step ladder at times against Francis but he rose to the physical challenge admirably. His partnership with Paul Ritchie again looked to be a winner and can only get better with games. With Gudni Bergsson and Mike Whitlow sealing off the flanks and Robbie Elliott doing a vital job just in front of the back four there was a protective shield around Jussi Jaaskelainen that the home side only seriously breached on a couple of occasions.

Ironically, the best chance of the game came from Stockport's one memorable piece of skill from Kevin Cooper which was totally out of character with the rest of his side's performance.

The tricky winger had the audacity to take on and beat the first man inside his own box, dart past two more as he picked up speed at the half way line and come out of the simultaneous challenge of two defenders with the ball still stuck to his feet on the edge of the Wanderers goalmouth before delivering a mouthwatering cross to the feet of Francis who was standing in acres of space six yards from a gaping net. Francis pulled back his long right leg and then pushed it forward with apparent intense concentration only to connect with a part of the ball he hadn't intended and the shot bobbled harmlessly wide.

Jaaskelainen got down to his left smartly to make his one testing save of the night from Ian Lawson but the tall Finn did his growing reputation no harm with the rest of his game. His safe hands and his conviction in coming off his line to kick clear under pressure or clutch a dangerous cross before Francis could make his presence felt was a confidence booster to his defence.

At the other end it was a night to forget for the front two of Eidur Gudjohnsen and Dean Holdsworth who have killed off Fulham three days earlier.

Impressive marking by the home side meant they only had one sniff of goal between them all night, a half chance for Holdsworth when he beat keeper Carlo Nash to long ball over the defence but directed his difficult angled lob wide of the target.

Wanderers' biggest goal threat was posed by Claus Jensen. The midfielder's cultured feet and measured approach were in stark contrast with the majority of fare on offer but he so nearly made the difference with two quality free kicks from identical distances.

His first right-footed curler brought a magnificent save out of Nash who had to lunge full length to tip the ball around his right hand post in the first half. His second rendered Nash helpless as it crashed against the crossbar and back into the play as Wanderers dominated the second half. There was only one team in it after the break. Nash came to the rescue again when he got his body in the way of a vicious Bergsson drive, Elliott failed to connect properly as he slid on to the end of a cross six yards out and Michael Johansen was denied at point blank range by the keeper a minute into injury time with the Danish winger convinced he should have had a penalty for an illegal challenge just as he was about to shoot.

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