SECOND HALF
United quickly came out strong after the halftime break, but Stoke managed to claw their way back into the match against the flow of play.
Just a few minutes after the restart, Ogbebor capitalized on a loose ball, weaving between two Reds defenders and breaking free to chip the ball over Heath, who had rushed out in an attempt to thwart the striker.
As Fletcher’s team discovered in the first half, the Potters became tough to penetrate once they had something to defend. A potential breakthrough appeared to materialize midway through the half when Bailey applied pressure, won the ball back, and set up Douka Nkoto through Louie Bradbury; however, Josh McWilliams made a last-minute block on Nkoto’s shot, keeping the match level.
Gabriel appealed for a penalty, while Heath was forced to tip a dangerous effort from McWilliams over the bar at the other end. It seemed the game was heading for a draw, until, in the dying moments of added time, Helafu sprinted to the byline, cut back inside, and found Bradbury in the middle, who finished it off to secure the winner and all three points for United.
