Report by John Patrick Heeley

Stockport County produced a clinical display to sweep aside Wigan Athletic 4-0 at The Brick Community Stadium, condemning the Latics to a heavy home defeat in League One.

The visitors took control early and never looked back, racing into a three-goal lead inside the opening 21 minutes.

Kyle Wootton opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a superb first-time volley into the top corner, giving Wigan goalkeeper Joe Whitworth no chance.

Stockport doubled their advantage nine minutes later when Harry Wood latched onto a defence-splitting pass and calmly lifted the ball over the advancing Whitworth.

The visitors then struck again just two minutes later as Jack Diamond burst forward and finished emphatically, his effort going in off the post to leave Wigan reeling.

Trailing 3-0 at half-time, Wigan attempted to find a route back into the contest after the break, making three substitutions in an effort to change the game's momentum.

However, Stockport remained organised and dangerous on the counter-attack, restricting the hosts to few clear-cut opportunities.

As the match entered stoppage time, Stockport added further gloss to the scoreline. Ryan Glover reacted quickest after an initial effort was saved, firing the rebound into the roof of the net to complete a comprehensive 4-0 victory for the visitors.

The result gave Stockport an impressive away win and underlined their attacking threat, while Wigan were left to reflect on a disappointing afternoon after conceding three goals in a devastating first-half spell.

Latics manager Gary Caldwell admitted his side were second best but urged his young squad to learn from the experience, adding: "It's never nice to lose, it's never nice to lose at home, it's never nice to lose to that margin. This is a young group that is developing. And we are going to have moments like this, where the most important thing is that we learn from it."

"The biggest thing, and I've told the players this, is to walk out of the stadium with your heads held high. You have to accept what this is, in terms of the reality of League One, and the level a team like Stockport is at. And you have to do something about it."

"We went 4-2-3-1 to have an extra man on the last line, and I'll accept responsibility that we could have gone man to man a bit earlier."