Stockport County 3 Charlton 1
Charlton bowed out of the Emirates FA Cup at the hands of a Will Collar hat-trick as Stockport County beat the Addicks 3-1 at Edgeley Park.
With Caretaker Manager Anthony Hayes in the dugout for the first time Charlton took an early lead but County responded well and took their chances well to secure the win.
Hayes made seven changes, with Chuks Aneke spearheading the Charlton attack in a 3-4-3 formation.
The Addicks took an early lead through a bizarre own goal from Stockport’s Akil Wright. In truth, the defender wasn’t at fault, as goalkeeper Ben Hinchcliffe was unable to deal with Charlie Kirk’s inswinging corner and fumbled with the ball bouncing off Wright and into the home side’s net.
Charlton had breaks to go 2-0 up, with Jack Payne playing in Richard Chin whose shot just cleared the crossbar. Aneke then broke free but going away from goal was unable to find the target with his left-footed shot.
After Charlton’s chances, Craig MacGillivray made the save of the game with an excellent low stop to keep out a diving header from opposition skipper Paddy Madden.
Stockport levelled shortly after MacGillivray’s heroics when Collar was the fastest to react after Ryan Rydel’s driven shot bounced back off the post.
The home side created more chances before the half-time break with MacGillivray making comfortable saves to deny Collar a second and to keep out Madden.
Charlton made a change at half time with George Dobson replacing Aneke but that didn’t initially stop the home side, with Rydel striking the post for the second time in the game, though this time the ball bounced away to safety.
The Addicks made further changes and began to get into more of the game, but Stockport took the lead with 17 minutes to go when Collar finished well from a nice cushioned lay-off from Kyle Wootton.
It became 3-1 with 10 minutes remaining when Collar completed his hat-trick with a smart penalty after Dobson brought down Ollie Crankshaw as the Addicks exited the cup.
Stockport County: Hinchcliffe, Southam-Hales (Crankshaw 67), Wright, Horsfall, Madden (c) (Brown 82), Collar (Camps 90+1), R.Johnson, Rydel, Croasdale (C.Johnson 90+1), Wootton, Hippolyte (MacDonald 90+1)
Subs (not used): Jones, Evans, Okwute, Barugh
Goals: Collar 25, 73, 81 (pen)
Booked: Rydel 66 (foul on Rak-Sakyi)
Charlton: MacGillivray; Clare (c), Lavelle, Mitchell; Chin, Morgan (Rak-Sakyi 64), Forster-Caskey (Fraser 82), Campbell (Blackett-Taylor 73); Payne, Aneke (Dobson 46), Kirk (Jaiyesimi 64)
Subs (not used): Maynard-Brewer, Toure, Sessegnon, Henry
Goal: Wright (og) 7
Booked: Campbell 49 (foul on Collar), Forster-Caskey 69 (foul on Collar), Mitchell 77 (foul on Collar), Clare 80 (unsportsmanlike conduct)
Referee: Scott Oldham
Attendance: 6,242