Nahki Wells’ dramatic extra-time finish was enough to secure the Vertu Trophy in a tense but entertaining 3-1 victory at Wembley Stadium.
Wells, who scored the goal to put Town ahead before half-time whistle following Emilio Lawrence’s leveller, also netted the third goal in stoppage time to send a majority of those in attendance into orange-fuelled mania and helped secure the trophy that had last been won in 2009.
It was Stockport who took the lead at Wembley when a long ball over the top allowed forward Adama Sidibeh to get through, his shot into the ground managing to get beyond James Shea just in the 11th minute.
While County looked threatening on the counter-attack, the Town performed admirably and deservedly found their leveller just 10 minutes later when Jordan Clark spotted the run of Lawrence, the youngster steadying himself with a touch before rifling his effort low between the legs of County goalkeeper Corey Addai.
With five minutes to go before the break, Kal Naismith stepped forward with a moment of quality. It was the captain who managed to pick out striker Wells on the edge of the area, the defender showed excellent composure to take a touch inside and beyond the County defender before wrong-footing Addai with a composed finish into the corner of the net.
The 45 minutes after the interval proved to be a nail-biting affair for everyone around Wembley Stadium, two great chances came and went for Stockport as Josh Stokes managed to work some space on the edge of the area before his effort whistled just past the post.
Town also needed a huge stop from Shea to preserve their lead, fully justifying Town boss Jack Wilshere’s choice to keep faith in the veteran stopper. A deep free-kick for Stockport saw the ball whipped in dangerously by Oliver Norwood, with his delivery finding Stokes once more. The header seemed destined for the back of the net before Shea reacted magnificently to tip the ball onto the bar with a wonderful one-handed save.
Minutes after the officials announced an additional 10 to play, Wells completed his brace to send Town fans into bedlam, managing to get control of the ball in the area before firing a reverse shot hard and low, beating Addai and wrapping up the game and the trophy for Town.
TOWN: Shea, Naismith, Andersen, Walsh, Odoffin, Clark, Jones (sub Morris 87), Richards (sub Lonwijk 87), Lawrence (sub Kodua 77), Palmer (sub Saville 90+7), Wells (sub Cole 90+&)
Subs not used: Al-Hamadi, Keeley
Attendance: 49,517 with 33,412 following Town
Match Report: Liam Wilmot
