Plaudits for Aston Villa youngster Louie Barry as a brilliant hat-trick all but secures loan club a place in the play-offs
11:40, 26 Apr 2026Updated 11:50, 26 Apr 2026
Louie Barry, on loan from Aston Villa, scored a hat-trick to help Stockport beat Peterborough 3-1 in League One.(Image: Phil Oldham/Shutterstock)
Louie Barry grabbed a hat-trick as he tries to end a painfully stop-start season on a high note.
The 22-year-old Aston Villa playmaker had last season derailed by an injury on loan at Hull City in the Championship, having scored 16 goals in 24 games for Stockport County in League One up until the New Year.
This time around he barely featured on loan at Sheffield United before returning to Stockport, having to be patient to get back on the pitch and then being sent off in his first game.
His first goals of term finally came on Saturday when he got all three in a 3-1 win over Peterborough United, only his second start since returning to Edgeley Park.
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That win all but secures Stockport a place in the play-offs. They have two matches left compared to rivals’ one and are in fourth, three points clear of seventh, with a substantially better goal difference than fifth-placed Bradford or sixth-placed Stevenage.
Stockport boss Dave Challinor said: “Louie is back in a place now where he’s able to do what he does.
“After losing 1-0 (at home to Mansfield Town) on Tuesday, it highlights the players you want between the boxes – the ones you need in the final third. Louie is a killer when he gets in those positions.
“It’s not a surprise how Louie scored those three goals. It was the same way he has scored three-quarters of his goals for us.
“He only played 60 or 70 minutes but that will improve with time.”
Stockport are next in action on Tuesday at home to already-relegated Port Vale before heading to Barnsley on the final day of the regular season next Saturday.
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