Stockport moved to the top of the Sky Bet League One table after a fourth successive victory with their comfortable 3-0 win at Port Vale.
Nathan Lowe, Kyle Wootton and Jack Diamond all found the net in the space of 16 minutes in the first half to help County move up from fourth place to go two points clear at the top.
Vale’s defeat, meanwhile, keeps them in the relegation zone and two points from safety.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 13th minute, with on-loan Stoke striker Lowe nodding past Tyler Onyango’s cross for his second goal in as many games.
Wootton’s precise finish from the edge of the area doubled the Hatters’ advantage 10 minutes later and took their league goal tally for the season to six.
And things got even better for Dave Challinor’s side shortly before the half-hour mark when 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, a rare attack for the hosts.
Stockport almost added a fourth goal when Lowe, who was fortunate to only receive a yellow card for an elbow on Marvin Johnson late in the first half, hit a post in the second half.
Challinor: Stockport not getting carried away
Stockport director Dave Challinor refused to get carried away after seeing his team rise to the top of the Ligue 1 table.
“We could be leading the championship by tomorrow [Tuesday, after Bradford’s game against Lincoln]so we’re going to enjoy it for what it is right now,” 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 matches. If we do this, we will be happy.
“But we’re only a fraction of the way through the season, so there’s still a long way to go.
“It was great for the fans to be able to support us throughout the match.
“We talked and said that eventually someone will find themselves at the end of more than a 1-0. [win] and luckily it was tonight.
“And we will try to confirm that next Saturday at Tranmere in the FA Cup.”
Moore: Port Vale doesn’t show a true reflection of themselves
Port-Valé chief Darren Moore:
“The boys are not showing real thought about where we are.
“If we score this goal in the first minutes, it’s a completely different game. It’s a glorious occasion.
“It’s almost like two identical opportunities: one for us that we didn’t exploit and one for them that they exploited.
“And that was the difference in terms of quality of finish when they [the chances] showed up.
“And those are the things where we need to be more clinical.
“We need to demand more of ourselves when we move into these positions.
“And we are getting into these positions, but the chances of conversion seem to be left behind.”
