I wasn't wholly convinced about our performance tonight, there were long periods of Stockport possession, when we struggled to get out of our half, though certainly we had the better chances in the first half. The penalty and sending-off was the turning point in the game and although we battled well after conceding, there was no real end product.
I haven't seen the penalty incident again, so can only go on my view and that of a Stockport fan on the train back. Assuming that the initial ball wasn't offside, there was a one-on-one with their player and Daniels, who came out to the edge of his box. The Stocky fan said their player seemed to have lost control of the ball by the time Daniels made contact with him and Daniels was trying to get the ball rather than their player. Coupled with the fact that if he had got past Daniels then Goodison was back on the line so Daniels wasn't last man, the red card was harsh a yellow would have been fairer. The liner on that side who had a better view didn't seem to be flagging for a penalty, so as NBDH points out, it was a decision of the ref, who was some distance from the play. Mr Booth wasn't the worst ref that I've seen at PP, but he seemed to give every 50/50 decision Stockport's way.
I'd probably make Craig Curran my MoM, for workrate, Edds being the only other in contention. Bakayogo seems too much of a liability to want him starting regularly and I hope he was selected to counter Stockys physical presence rather than the start of a long run-out. McLaren was anonymous, ITM had a fairly quiet game and Mahon ran out of steam after a good first half.
The caretakers, Les and Shaun did ok, the side seemed well-motivated and didn't throw in the towel when we went a goal and a man behind. However, I'd agree with Ally that we missed a trick in not introducing Ricketts as our final sub. As well as his physical presence, the fact that Stockport hadn't given him a deal after his trial there may have meant he was more determined to prove a point. Overall, we deserved something from the game, so desparately need 3 points at the weekend.