The Wootton yellow was very harsh. The tell tale sign was that their player dived with his arms in the air. The natural reaction if you are knocked down is to break your fall with your arms, not thrown them in the air. The yellow for Quigley was the correct decision, but he should have been booked earlier for his play acting and persistent dissent. It was poetic justice that his poor pass led to our second goal.
Patterson, 7. Looks very assured, big and when he comes for a ball he gets it. Came out to the edge of his box to catch one and I never felt it was a problem or that he'd flap.
Brindley, 7. Good professional performance, went forward when it was on, defended solidly.
Rawlinson, 7. Rock solid until he made an error for the penalty, shame as he deserved a clean sheet.
Cameron, 7. Unbeaten since he's come back in and looking far more solid than earlier in the season.
DKE, 8.5. His attitude is fantastic, always gives everhthing and was just great.
Taylor, 7. Played as well as I've seen him today, beat his man but also good defensively.
Palmer, 8.5. Those lime green boots were everywhere, stopped crosses coming in, blocked shots, won tackles, always tried to pass the ball forwards. Player of the season so far for me.
JOB , 7.5 . Played a full part in a re*****ised midfield.
Vincent, 8.5. Absolute revelation, completely changes the dynamic of the team. He changes us from playing like Stockport, safe, steady, in front of teams, to being quick on the break, dynamic, energetic and plain dangerous going forwards.
RR, 8.5. Everything creative we did that put Stockport in trouble for the first hour had Rodriguess in the middle of it. They couldn't contain him.
Wootton, 7.5. Should have had a hat trick but like all good forwards didn't dwell on the misses and got his goal. Worked his socks off as always.
Subs
Roberts 7. Played for the team and did his bit.
Mitchell, 7. Only on for a few minutes.
Birch, 9. Got everything right today. Had we lost he'd have been under some pressure but he not only got the win but we had our best performance of the season and arguably of his time with us.
MOTM shared between Palmer, DKE and Vincent, actually add Ruben in there as well, really great team performance today. First time I've believed we might go up since the curtailed end of the 2019 season.
Vincent has absolutely singlehandedly transformed that midfield from being weak to looking solid and threatening. Wing backs go forward because they have a willing runner to pass to, defence have faith in a midfield that is covering them. Palmer now has a partner to share the heavy lifting.
Seems ridiculous to go overboard over a player who couldn't get a start against Tamworth last week but he's looked a game changer in the last two games.