Stockport and Torquay put on a National League showcase in a thrilling promotion scrap at Edgeley Park

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This was the perfect advert for the National League, flowing control from one side to the other, battling for the ultimate prize.

Arriving at the ground it took you back to the pure elements that make lower league football so special.

The main stand steeped in history with the old-style artwork and brickwork giving a nod to times past, this is a club that sticks to its roots and represents its community and fanbase with pride.

They do things the right way both on and off the pitch and are a Football League club in all but name in the near future, whether it be this season or the next.

Walking down the pavestones you could hear the atmosphere in the air and as you turned the corner to the stadium a number of fans had made their presence known to offer that extra boost to the County squad.

Beer gardens in the surrounding streets were filled to the brim with fans looking to get a taste of the action as the game was live on TV, and ultimately to the neutral and to fans of both clubs, it delivered.

The tone was set early on as Stockport played the ball about with a fluidity befitting of a side levels above where they currently stand.

John Rooney dictated the central areas and despite a high, intense press from Torquay, they shifted the ball efficiently from right to left, using pace out wide to create a number of early chances that they could not capitalise on.

Macauley Southam-Hales was the standout man throughout for County and was rightly awarded man of the match, his sheer pace out wide offered an extra dimension to Simon Rusk’s sides’ play throughout proceedings.

At one point Ben Hinchcliffe smartly sent a long ranging ball on the counter attack over the top to Southam-Hales, the latter had at least 10 yards to make up on his defensive counterpart but he raced past with ease and drew a foul from Dean Moxey.

It was this will of intent to put in that run that may not pay dividends, both sides were willing to take risks and it left the game open and tough to call.

Just when you thought one side had the control and would kick on from there, the opposition would start to create chances and suddenly you were left wondering whether it would sway the other way.

It was a breathless affair.

That man Southam-Hales provided the early difference with a sensational curling effort into the top left corner.

He looked up for a cross initially cutting in from the right hand side at a narrow angle but, seeing a lack of options in front of him, he opted for a fine solo effort beyond the reach of Lucas Covolan to open the scoring.

Straight after that County looked in the ascendency with another chance falling at the feet of the unusually wasteful Alex Reid – Stockport’s top scorer for the campaign.

Yet, it was Torquay who fired the next blow as the mightily impressive Connor Lemonheigh-Evans forced Ryan Croasdale to bring him down as he skilfully glided his way into the County area.

Scott Boden made no mistake from the penalty spot to draw things level going in at half time.

There was just enough time to catch your breath before the second half that seemed to tick by as quickly as the game.

Just when you thought the tempo would let up, both sides came out and laid it all on the table knowing the importance of a fixture that would have major ramifications for their promotion hopes.

Control of the game continued to switch with both having five minutes spells of pressure before the other would go up the opposite end in a fast-paced counter attack and come close.

Boden got his second after some impressive work by Jake Andrews who ran free down the left hand side and fired against the crossbar before Boden reacted first to deflect the ball into the net from mere yards out to turn the game around for the visitors.

The scenes on the Torquay bench and within the players on the park showed just how important they felt that goal was.

I have never seen Gary Johnson move with such speed.

Yet, as you should really have expected from this game before now, Stockport were far from finished.

John Rooney’s set piece delivery was a real threat on a number of occasions, they were frankly impossible to defend at times.

And so it proved as he sent a corner curling to the back post, completely taking Covolan out of the game – the Torquay goalkeeper – and finding Ash Palmer free to head home to level things once more.

Whilst both teams had chances after that, Stockport looked increasingly happy to settle for a point towards the end, albeit still bringing Richie Bennett on late on to find a winner.

Torquay on the other hand pressed and pressed relentlessly.

Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, my personal man of the match, drove United up the park time and time again.

At this level you tend to expect flair players to offer sporadic moments and the pace to beat a man, but Lemonheigh-Evans is so much more than that.

He offers a quality of vision and intelligence to know the right moments to drop the shoulder, or the right moments to remain patient and recycle possession.

If anyone deserved a winning goal it was him.

But alas this tireless encounter ended level which over the piece seems like a fair representation and neither side deserved to go away empty handed after leaving everything out there.

It was the perfect advert for non-league football and it goes to show that teams can offer the quality of style and individual talent befitting of levels above in the National League.

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