Hardiker earns rare success for Stockport

Stockport County 2 Manchester City 1

Two goals in the last five minutes from John Hardiker gave Stockport a deserved victory over Manchester City in a match that belied the difference between the aspiring and the expiring in the Nationwide First Division last night.

Playing against 10 men for an hour, after the sending-off of Shaun Goater, Stockport showed tremendous spirit for a side that is already relegated and City could have no complaints when Hardiker got his head to Dave Challinor's cross. In injury time Hardiker was there again, meeting a cross from the opposite flank to steer his shot past Carlo Nash for the most unlikely result in the division this season.

There could hardly have been a more stark contrast between these two sides, with Stockport finally resigned to the inevitability of the Second Division and City, giving a first start to their latest big signing Jon Macken, planning for the Premiership.

But it was Stockport who had the first chance when Dave Challinor headed straight at Carlo Nash from Ali Gibb's free-kick. If Stockport had the luck of a team on its way down, City were little better in the early stages, with Andy Dibble's miskick matched by Goater's for the visitors when the gift should have been accepted.

City had a genuine scare after 16 minutes when Macken gave the ball away carelessly to Gibb. His pace took him clear on the right, but his shot beat Nash only to flash past the far post.

Two minutes later, Macken had the easiest of jobs to more than make up for that error. Ali Benarbia laid on a close-range chance for Goater and when the ball came back off Dibble, Macken put it away despite County's appeals for off-side.

The lively Sean Wright-Phillips went close midway through the half as City began to find an ominous amount of space. Downwardly mobile Stockport continued to have their share of the action, however, with John Hardiker shooting over from Gibb's cross.

After half an hour, they had a huge helping hand from City when Goater palmed out Luke Beckett's goal bound header and was duly sent off. Beckett took the penalty and missed by yards.

Despite going a man down, City almost increased their lead when Kevin Horlock hit the bar, but they still finished the half in some disarray.

They started the second in much the same way with Challinor's trade-mark long throw on causing chaos of Stockport's dominated possession.

Only Benarbia's subtle touches showed City as a class apart and a volley from the substitute, Lucien Mettomo from his exquisite cross, could have brought them a second. Dibble also had to save acrobatically from Mettomo's header.

Stockport County (3-5-2): Dibble; Clare, Palmer, Challinor; Gibb, Brigg, Hardiker, McLachlan, Thomas (Welsh, 49) ; Beckett, Williams (Byrne, 73). Substitutes not used: Turner (gk), Wild, Fradin.

Manchester City (3-5-2): Nash; Dunne, Howey, Pearce; Wright-Phillips (Mettomo, ht), Benarbia, Deakins, Horlock, Jensen; Macken, Goater, Substitutes not used: Royce (gk), Jihai, Ritchie, Huckerby

Referee: C Wilkes (Gloucester).