Stockport County beat Huddersfield Town thanks to this bold thing Dave Challinor did | OneFootball

The Stockport County boss took a brave decision, and it paid off when Odin Bailey netted the Hatters’ second

Stockport County beat Huddersfield Town 2-1 last weekend, despite being down to 10 men.

The Hatters were already one up when Tyler Onyango got his marching orders in the 53 minute, thanks to Ollie Norwood converting a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

In the circumstances, many managers – against strong opposition like the Terriers – would have shut up shop to attempt to see out the second half.

Dave Challinor took the opposite view, going for another goal, and it paid dividends.

Tyler Onyango’s red card put Stockport County in a difficult spot

After a drawn-out transfer saga over the summer, Onyango arrived at County on deadline day on a season-long loan from Premier League side Everton.

It was his fourth League One start this season, having already claimed an assist the game prior, but he would not carry that creative momentum through to the Accu Stadium trip.

He received his first caution for pulling back David Kasumu as he was on the break, a relatively textbook yellow card that the loanee seemed to have few complaints about.

Minutes later, he received his second yellow and a subsequent dismissal, after he appeared to bundle over Leo Castledine, who was about to break through County’s defence.

The second one was arguably quite soft, but Onyango perhaps showed a level of inexperience in allowing the Huddersfield man to go over, and giving the referee a decision to make – a lesson he will surely learn from.

Dave Challinor reacted bravely to the second-half setback

A goal to the good, against a side in Huddersfield who were, at that point, unbeaten at home in the league this season, it would have been justified for Challinor to bring one of his attackers off and drop into a back five to try and see out the game.

But the County boss took another view.

Instead, he swapped out centre-back Joseph Olowu for full-back Corey O’Keeffe and morphed his defence into a back four, while withdrawing Benony Andresson for exciting attacker Jayden Fevrier.

It was clear Challinor wasn’t content with sitting on a one-goal lead, and his aggressive substitutions paid dividends, with Fevrier and Jack Diamond both breaking the Huddersfield line to get good chances on goal.

If anything, the Hatters looked more dangerous at this point and began to take control to some degree, which paid off in the 79th minute when Odin Bailey collected the ball after Jack Diamond got held up.

The midfielder surged forward in an incredible solo run, shifting the ball onto his right foot when he entered the box, curling a perfect shot around Lee Nicholls in the Huddersfield net.

It was a reward for Bailey, having looked a bright spark since working his way back into the team in recent weeks, but it was also a reward for the bravery of Challinor, who could have retreated but set his team up to go and get a second.

If Challinor hadn’t had that bold outlook, Bailey, as an attack-minded midfielder, may have been one of the first to be withdrawn, and it’s unlikely he and Diamond would have been as high up the pitch as they were, too.

However, that’s not the course of action the manager took, and his side took an important three points as a result, away to a side who could well be in a battle with them for promotion come the end of the season.