What Nathan Lowe did against Port Vale has got Stoke City fans reacting | OneFootball

Stoke City loanee Nathan Lowe opened the scoring for Stockport County against Port Vale on Monday night

Stoke City loanee Nathan Lowe opened the scoring in Stockport County's 3-0 victory over Port Vale on Monday evening, and Potters fans were quick to take to social media to react to the 20-year-old's goal against their bitter local rivals.

Stoke City and Port Vale hate each other, but you'd be forgiven for not knowing anything about the Potteries derby, given the fact that the two clubs have not played each other in a competitive fixture for over 23 years.

Both hailing from Stoke-on-Trent, the Potters have spent the majority of the last couple of decades playing their football in the first and second tiers, whilst Vale have largely lingered in and around the third and fourth, meaning most young supporters of either club have ever had the opportunity to experience the rivalry firsthand.

It has probably been for the best that these two clubs have rarely had to face each other in the modern day, as in December 2018, Vale hosted Stoke's Under-21s side in the EFL Trophy, where the home side ran out 4-0 winners, with over 4,000 Stoke fans in attendance, at least 11 arrests, and thousands of pounds worth of damages caused around the area.

Despite their last competitive meeting between both senior sides coming in February 2002, the rivalry between the two has always remained heated, even with at least one division having always separated the two since.

As Vale hosted Stockport County in League One on Monday evening, much of the attention around the team selections came with Dave Challinor's decision to start Stoke loanee Nathan Lowe for the away side.

Every time Lowe came near the ball, rings of boos would surround Vale Park, at least up until the 13th minute, when the English youth international nodded home Tyler Onyango's cross from the right to give the Hatters the lead and silence the home support.

This was just his third league goal of the season and second in consecutive games, as the 20-year-old has seemingly finally found his rhythm in a Stockport shirt.

Stoke fans were quick to take to social media to remind their rivals of just who had scored against them.

Stoke City fans buoyantly react to Nathan Lowe's opening goal for Stockport County against Port Vale

It didn't take Potters fans long to log onto their social media accounts and remind Vale fans about whom the opening scorer is contracted to.

With the lack of games between these two sides in recent history, any chance for a jibe at one another is guaranteed to be taken with both hands, and Stoke fans did not disappoint.

With boos from the home crowd targeted towards Lowe, it didn't take the young striker long to hit back with a response of his own, knee sliding in front of the home crowd following his goal before pretending to shoot a bow and arrow at them.

It certainly must have felt like a low blow for the home fans after Lowe's strike, with him being the one player on the pitch they'd have hoped wouldn't score against them.

Stoke decided to loan Lowe out again this season, having spent the first half of last campaign on loan in League Two with Walsall, where he took the fourth tier by storm, scoring 15 goals and grabbing five assists before being recalled in January.

He'd play just ten times upon his recall, scoring once as the Potters narrowly retained their place in the Championship, and found himself behind both Sam Gallagher and Ali Al-Hamadi in the pecking order.

Ahead of this campaign, Stoke signed both Divin Mubama on loan from Manchester City and Robert Bozenik on a free transfer from Boavista to reinforce their striking options, and chose to send Lowe to Stockport to continue his development.

Bozenik is yet to make an impact since his switch from Portugal, whilst Lowe continues to pick up regular minutes for a side fighting for promotion from League One, and this Stoke fan clearly rates him higher than their summer signing.

Nathan Lowe is beginning to find form at Stockport County after a slow start to life in League One, with promotion hopes boosted

Having had a slow start to life at Edgeley Park, Lowe looks like he is finally beginning to find form in Stockport colours, with goals in consecutive games and having started the last three matches in a row.

With Kyle Wootton more often than not occupying the centre-forward role in the Hatters preferred 3-4-3 formation, Lowe has been forced to adapt his game to play in a slightly deeper role as a result.

It appears now as though the 20-year-old is getting to grips with his new position, and he will hope he can continue his positive run of form heading into the next block of fixtures and retain his place in the starting 11.

Stockport hold real ambitions of promotion to the Championship this season, having been on an upwards trajectory in terms of league position for the last 12 years.

The Hatters narrowly lost out to Leyton Orient in the League One play-offs last season, but they will hoping that play-offs aren't required this season, and that they can finish in one of the automatic position's, and Lowe's form could be crucial towards those efforts.