Stockport breeze past Port Vale to climb to top of League One table

Stockport moved to the top of the Sky Bet League One table after a fourth consecutive win with their comfortable 3-0 victory away at Port Vale.

Nathan Lowe, Kyle Wootton and Jack Diamond all found the net in the space of 16 first-half minutes to ensure County climbed from fourth place to sit two points clear at the summit.

Defeat for Vale, meanwhile, sees them remain in the relegation zone and two points away from safety.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 13th minute, with Stoke loan striker Lowe nodding home from Tyler Onyango’s cross for his second goal in as many games.

Wootton’s precise finish from the edge of the box doubled the Hatters’ advantage 10 minutes later and took his league goal tally for the season to six.

And things got even better for Dave Challinor’s side shortly before the half-hour mark as Diamond muscled Jesse Debrah off the ball in the penalty area before calmly slotting past Joe Gauci.

Ruari Paton’s long-range free-kick clipped the crossbar just before half-time in a rare attack for the hosts.

Stockport nearly added a fourth goal when Lowe, who was lucky to only receive a yellow card for an elbow on Marvin Johnson late in the opening period, struck a post in the second period.