Wrexham 2-1 Stockport County: Andy Cannon goal secures late win over champions

Wrexham toasted promotion to League One with a final-day win over League Two champions Stockport.

Ollie Palmer equalised two minutes after the break to revive the celebratory mood at the Racecourse.

With two minutes left, Andy Cannon blasted in from close range to seal a victory which saw the hosts finish second in League Two.

With Wrexham having sealed promotion with two games to spare and Stockport wrapping up the title by the same time, this had the feel of an exhibition game – albeit with reason to celebrate on both sides.

After giving their opponents a guard of honour before kick-off, Wrexham created a couple of half-chances for Palmer and Paul Mullin before Stockport’s Lemonheigh-Evans found the net with a powerful low shot which hit the post on its way in.

Antoni Sarcevic twice came close to extending County’s lead before the break, while Palmer was denied by a fine smothering save from Ben Hinchliffe.

The Wrexham striker eventually got his goal two minutes into the second half with a cool low finish beyond Hinchliffe.

There were few chances for either side from that point but Cannon made it a memorable end to a successful campaign for the home side with his late winner against his former team.

Wrexham and Stockport had been promotion rivals in the National League two years ago before renewing their rivalry during this campaign.

And next term, they can look forward to locking horns in a third different division in four seasons.

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson: “Five wins to finish the season is great from the lads. It was important we finished the season well.

“We spoke last week about rewarding our away travelling army and this week [we did the same] – we’ve got a very proud home record here.

“We wanted to finish the season in style and we were able to do that with an excellent second-half display.

“When the key fixtures have arrived, we’ve really cranked it up and put in some good performances. That’s really important to produce when the crunch time of the season arrives.”