With plenty of news having unfolded throughout the course of the day, including a pitch inspection, players coming in and others being transfer listed, there was plenty to talk about before the game, never mind afterwards.
Notts got away to the perfect start as a cross from Alan Sheehan fell to Enoch Showunmi, who thumped the ball from six yards past Joe Day. Four minutes gone on the clock, advantage Magpies.
Buoyed by this great opening spell, things would get even better, because just three minutes later, a cross from Kieron Freeman fell to young Ronan Murray, who finished off the move by striking low past the Posh keeper.
Peterborough, blown away by this early rampage which saw them having to chase a two-goal lead after just seven minutes, upped the tempo and nearly pulled a goal back almost immediately, were it not for a last-ditch save from Bartosz Bialkowski’s legs.
Notts were able to weather the Posh advances initially, whilst getting a couple more efforts on goal, though not as effective as the early strikes.
On the quarter-hour mark, an off-the-ball incident saw Murray receive a straight red, meaning Notts would have to play the rest of the game - 75 minutes - with just ten men.
The dynamic start to the first half continued when the home side had a penalty appeal turned down, as Andre Boucaud allegedly fouled Danny Swanson in the box. The ref, however, gave nothing.
Unrelented, Posh kept coming, and eventually halved the deficit when Nicky Ajose, showing good control, fired the ball past Bart and into the net. The Pole just about got to it, but it squirmed past his fingertips. 2-1 and a sending off, all within 30 minutes.
Showunmi was then subbed off in the 32nd minute, Derry replacing the big man with Danny Haynes, who just today had been placed on the transfer list.
Haynes very nearly scored after coming on, Manny Smith playing him in over the top. The ex-Charlton man then fired a low shot, but Day managed to save the effort.
The Notts fans that paid £28 for a ticket weren’t to be disappointed, because the game would keep on giving drama. A period of end-to-end football ensued, with Notts chances coming from Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Andre Boucaud and Haynes, while Britt Assombalonga and Swanson weighed in with chances for the Posh.
The second half began with Peterborough fired up and eager to equalise. With less then ten minutes played since the restart, a rampant Posh duly got their equaliser, courtesy of Assombalonga’s header.
Peterborough took their foot off the pedal somewhat after their second goal, and Notts began the unenviable task of trying to redeem their wasted two-goal advantage. However, just as Notts pushed forward in a bid to retake the lead, in came the third Posh goal, an unstoppable long-range strike from Ajose.
That wasn’t to be the end of the story. Almost immediately, Jack Grealish, the young prodigy whose presence tonight was in doubt following on from his dead leg at the hands of Stevenage last weekend, drilled a left-footed shot past Day to make it 3-3.
Ajose, having already scored a brace, went one better and got his hat-trick with five minutes to go, as a goalmouth scramble took place in the Notts box following a corner, and the ex-Manchester United striker bundled the ball into the net.
There would be no last-ditch Notts equaliser; the game would finish 4-3, and though you cannot bemoan the sheer effort put in by Derry's boys, one cannot help but wonder what it could have been, had there been eleven men on the pitch.
