If Stoke wanted excuses for this dismal performance they could point to the absence of goalkeeper Mark Coombe, Lewis Robinson, Richard Hancox, Jimmy Holland, Jay Morgan, Matt Guy and Owen Williams but that would not hide the inability of the more than adequate starting line up to do the simple things of winning, passing and keeping the ball that has been the trademark of their better performances this season. Lacking character from the start, Stoke went behind in the 10th minute when centre backs Simon Armstrong and Alex Warren failed to deal with a wind assisted drop kick from visiting keeper Chris Higgs, home keeper Dean Munday failed to collect and striker Alex Wheatley shot home from 12 yards. Stoke rallied and on 15 minutes, a Liam Collings corner was partially cleared to Mark Newbould whose exchange of passes with Kevin Wills led to Collings receiving a through ball on the angle and shooting home from 15 yards. Stoke now dominated but the final ball lacked the quality needed to penetrate a resolute visiting back line and Higgs was rarely called into action. In typical fashion, a sucker punch arrived two minutes before half time when Wheatley turned provider with a through ball to Sam Dibling who outpaced Martin Sutcliffe and drove home across Munday from 10 yards. While the home crowd would have been justified in expecting a second half response from their players this failed to materialise and while still having a slight territorial advantage, Stoke's inability to retain possession and therefore create any meaningful scoring opportunities was further punished on 65 minutes when a Wheatley free kick from the right side of Stoke's penalty area was spilled by Munday low down for Ollie Hyatt to tap home the loose ball. Stoke huffed and puffed for the remainder of the game, but Collings' miss with a free header from 3 yards with the goal at his mercy on 80 minutes typified a game that simply was never meant to be. For Stoke, the return fixture is only four weeks away but the management and players quickly need to put an end to the yo-yo performances that have blighted recent weeks and provide the missing consistency, if they are to stamp their authority among an ever growing number of teams that can consider themselves in with a chance of honours.