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.
Nathan Lowe opened the scoring for Stockport against Port Vale
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.
Challinor: Stockport not getting carried away
Stockport manager Dave Challinor refused to get carried away after watching his side move to the top of the League one table.
“We might be off top of the league by tomorrow [Tuesday, after Bradford’s game against Lincoln], so we’ll enjoy it for what it is at the moment,” Challinor said.
“But we’re 14 games in, we’re on 28 points – two points per game, which is a [good] number over the course of 46 games. If we do that we’ll be happy.
“But we’re a fraction of the way through the season so there’s still a long way to go.
“It was great for the supporters to be able to back us throughout the game.
“We’ve been speaking and saying someone will eventually be on the end of more than a 1-0 [win] and thankfully it was tonight.
“And we’ll try and back that up next Saturday at Tranmere in the FA Cup.”
Moore: Port Vale not showing a true reflection of themselves
Port Vale boss Darren Moore:
“The boys are not showing a real true reflection in terms of where we’re at.
“If we score that goal in the first few minutes, it’s a different game all together. It’s a glorious chance.
“It’s almost like two identical chances – one for us that we didn’t capitalise on and one for them that they did.
“And that was the difference in terms of the quality of finishing when they [the chances] presented themselves.
“And those are the bits and pieces that we have to be more clinical in.
“We’ve got to demand more from ourselves in terms of when we get into those positions.
“And we’re getting into those positions, but converting the chances seems to be falling by the wayside.”
