Oldham Athletic 3-1 Stockport County
Stu Vose at Boundary Park

Latics secured an ideal derby-day tonic as they bounced back in style at the expense of local rivals Stockport.

John Sheridan's men rose to their gaffer's challenge to banish memories of the 5-0 defeat at Hereford, and duly cashed in to secure the points with three well-taken goals.

Danny Whitaker's sixth goal of the season and leading scorer Lee Hughes' 15th strike handed the hosts a comfortable 2-0 lead within 18 first-half minutes.

That lead was cut in half against the run in play before the break, but Latics kept their heads and secured victory when Chris Taylor profited from a sublime Dean Windass feed to fire home.

The defeat is just the third on the road this season for a County side who had conceded only 10 League goals away from home going into the game.

Manager Sheridan handed an immediate debut to loan signing Scott Golbourne, who saw action as soon as the first minute when he bundled Leon McSweeney's snapshot off the line following hesitation from Sean Gregan.

Shez had demanded a definitive response from his side in midweek and they made a perfect start by striking back with just three minutes on the clock.

Windass's cross from the right was headed clear by the County defence as far as Whitaker on the edge of the box, allowing the midfielder to switch the bouncing ball to his left foot and curl into the bottom left-hand corner.

It could have been two just moments later when Mark Allott hung up a beautiful ball into the box for Windass, who crept in behind his marker to plant a header just over the bar.

County keeper Owain fon Williams was in fine form to deny Deane Smalley from close range after the winger reacted first to a loose ball in the danger zone.

And he was called into action again to save close in from top scorer Hughes, who picked up possession all on his own when Jonny Mullins sent a back-pass into no-man's land.

County were finding themselves coming under heavy pressure in the early stages as a Latics side evidently stung by last week's events piled forward in numbers and at pace.

Windass rounded out a hectic first ten minutes by volleying a cross from the right inches over the bar with an unsighted fon Williams well beaten.

The experienced frontman the turned provider as Latics doubled their money on 18 minutes.  His deft flick found the onrushing Hughes, who measured a shot through the legs of the advancing fon Williams and into the back of the net.

Smalley was away down the right soon after the restart, running from inside his own half only to see his progress halted by a combination of a number of defenders' challenges and fon Williams' intervention inside the box.

Two could well have become three just before the half-hour as Jim McNulty's header back to fon Williams was uncertain, allowing Hughes to nip in and lob just over the bar.

At the other end the determined Sean Gregan and Reuben Hazell were refusing to give Stockport any traction up front as the hosts continued to dominate proceedings.

Smalley was finding plenty of space down the right and another mazy run resulted in a left-footed effort from the edge of the box which was well held by the busy fon Williams.

But County sneaked their way back into the game five minutes before the break as substitute Oli Johnson got his head on a cross from the right and arrowed a low header past a diving Greg Fleming.

On-loan striker Dave Mooney headed wide at the back post for the visitors six minutes into the second period as Jim Gannon's side searched for a way back into the game.

But a moment of Premier League class gave Athletic the upper hand once more 10 minutes after the restart.

Taylor found Windass in the centre circle, and the on-loan Hull man surprised everyone by threading a sublime first-time pass through into the path of the charging winger.

The pace proved too hot to handle for the three defenders left trailing in Taylor's wake as he drew fon Williams and got his angles all right to slot into the exposed far corner of the goal.

The two teamed up again to good effect on 67 minutes - Windass's clever scooped pass met by Taylor, who drew a neat save from fon Williams at his near post.

Only fon Williams' close-range intervention prevented Taylor from adding a fourth with a header ten minutes from the end, while Fleming saved well from Tommy Rowe in injury time to round off an impressive win.

Att: 7,605 (2,193 away)