Wanderers back on track

After an untidy spell Colin Todd's men are suddenly looking good for promotion again on the back of six crucial away points in four days.

Form is temporary but class is permanent and Wanderers' quality is beginning to tell.

While they were somewhat fortunate to pull off a smash and grab victory at Ipswich on Saturday, the lucky ones last night were Stockport in that they were spared a landslide defeat at the hands of a far superior side.

Even before home full back Colin Woodthorpe stupidly got himself sent off for abusing a linesman eight minutes before the break Wanderers were well into their stride and looking formidable.

After it they were awesome in every aspect apart from capitalising on their dominance with goals.

They got a taster of the frustrating night that lay ahead of them in front of goal after just 14 minutes when Claus Jensen unleashed a guided missile of a right footer which screamed 25 yards through the air and cannoned back off the crossbar.

If it wasn't bad luck that went against them it was either poor finishing or inspired goalkeeping by Stockport's Carlo Nash and as chance after chance went begging you began to wonder if it was going to be Wanderers' night.

Then up stepped Bob Taylor with just nine minutes remaining to perform an encore of his starring role at Portman Road with his magnificent seventh goal of the season.

There seemed little danger when he collected the ball under close attention on the right hand edge of the penalty area.

But he conjured enough space to get in a shot which flew off his right boot and flashed across Nash and just inside the far post.

"You just can't legislate for a goal like that," moaned Rob Matthews, Stockport's recent signing from Bury.

"When Bob Taylor hits it like that you can't do much about it. It was a quality goal from a proven striker.

"We were disappointed because we felt they hadn't created many clear-cut chances.

"They have quality players but they passed the ball so much that it allowed us to get men behind the ball. If they had gone forward quicker they might have been able to expose us more and make the extra man count."

Stockport boss Gary Megson told his men at half time to watch out for just such a quality goal - but he got the wrong tormentor.

"I told them the only thing that would undo us would be a wonder goal that we couldn't do anything about and that's what happened," he said.

"We were worred about Gunnlaugsson but in the end it turned out to be Bob Taylor who did the damage.

"it was a terrific strike and he would probably have done that if we had had 11 players on the pitch.

"They have Premiership players in every position so it was always going to be very difficult to nick a result through a set piece after the sending off.

"We haven't got players like Gunnlaugsson, Newsome, Taylor and Sellars who have class so we have to play a different game."

The Stockport style produced just one dangerous moment in 90 minutes when Brett Angell for once rose above the rock solid Wanderers defence and produced a thumping header from Matthews' corner which Jaaskelainen smothered on the line.

But it was a different story in five nerve-wracking injury time minutes when Stockport's 10 brave men threw caution to the wind and would have grabbed a point but for Dean Holdsworth's vital goalline clearance from Sean Connolly's snapshot during a frenzied goalmouth scramble.

The anxiety could have been avoided had Wanderers showed the kind of composure in front of goal that they produced in all other areas.

Arnar Gunnlaugsson summed up the side - brilliant in the build-up but lacking a clinical streak where it matters.

He returned to the starting 11 after being relegated to the bench at Ipswich and he responded with a performance that had class stamped all over it. As slippery as an eel and never far from the action, he linked up play well and teased and tormented the opposition with his dribbling skills. A quality pass at the end of the runs and more composed finishing would have produced the complete performance.

Jensen and Ricardo Gardner were also guilty of wasting glorious chances while the home keeper deserves enormous credit for denying substitute Dean Holdsworth and Gunnlaugsson in one-on-ones late on.

It would have been a travesty of justice for Wanderers to have come away with anything but maximum points although how close they came to disappointment should be a lesson that they must make their dominance count by killing teams off.

Todd admitted: "Sometimes we bring things upon ourselves when we are in control of games, as what happened at the end showed.

"But overall it was a very good performance. We controlled the game but looked like we might not get that breakthrough.

"Bob Taylor is a proven goalscorer and he has got some good goals for us. This one and the one last Saturday were two marvellous strikes."

For the second time in four days the foundation for Taylor's matchwinning exploits were laid by a no-nonsense defence and a midfield quartet which made a mockery of criticism that they are a soft touch when they have to defend.

Jon Newsome's influence was massive at the heart of the defence where Mark Fish was equally resilient while Neil Cox and Mike Whitlow had the flanks wrapped up.

Hailing the commitment to the cause within the squad, Taylor said: "It showed in the last minute when it was a bit like the Alamo and Deano cleared off the line.

"We want to win for each other now.

"Stockport defended very well with 10 men and because of the way they battled maybe they should have got something out of the game. But as on Saturday you have to keep playing for the whole 90 minutes."

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