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Hatters secure play-off final spot
By Mike Whalley For The Mail On Sunday
16:29 20 May 2023, updated 17:26 20 May 2023
- Stockport have booked a place in the League Two play-off final next week
- Isaac Olaofe put hosts ahead before Stevie Mall got Salford on level terms
- Jack Stretton took game to extra-time and Ben Hinchliffe saved two penalties
Last year, Ryan Reynolds; this year, Ryan Giggs. Stockport boss Dave Challinor is getting used to seeing off the big-name owners in promotion battles.
Twelve months ago, Challinor’s players held off Wrexham’s challenge to come up from the National League. This time, they came through a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out against Salford City – Class of 92 and all – to reach next weekend’s League Two play-off final.
Ben Hinchliffe’s two saves in the shoot-out, from Adrian Mariappa and Stevie Mallan, proved crucial. Salford’s Matty Lund had missed the first kick; Stockport’s Antoni Sarcevic scored the decisive one to spark a mass pitch invasion.
For Challinor, a seventh promotion in 13 seasons as a manager is still on the cards.
‘I’ve been to Wembley and I’ve played in finals there,’ Challinor said. ‘It’s a special place to play, and I want my players to experience that.
‘A small proportion of players get to do that. They’ll experience something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. But it’s about winning when you get there.
‘We’ve taken an important step. We’ve got another big step ahead of us. And there’s no better place to win a game than at Wembley.’
Salford, leading 1-0 from the first leg, looked the likelier winners as they dominated the first 40 minutes, watched by Salford co-owners Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, as well as their former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane.
But Matt Smith could not score with two clear headers, and Salford escaped on half-time as Paddy Madden headed against the bar from a Chris Hussey corner.
Isaac Olaofe levelled the aggregate score to force extra time, glancing in Ryan Rydel’s cross as Stockport improved in the second half.
Yet when Mallan’s long-range shot took a looping deflection past the excellent Hinchliffe, Salford looked set for victory. Jack Stretton’s close-range header, though, took the tie to penalties, at which point the visitors lost their nerve.
‘We’d done everything we could in the past two weeks to prepare for penalties,’ Salford manager Neil Wood said. ‘The only thing we couldn’t prepare for was the crowd, the hostile atmosphere when you’re walking up to take the kick.’
