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Joe Jones
Carl Dickinson has described Notts County's 4-2 win over Bristol Rovers as proof of how far the Magpies have come in a short space of time.
Friday night's FA Cup first-round encounter at Meadow Lane began in the worst possible way for Notts, who found themselves two goals down by the quarter-hour mark.
However, Ryan Yates struck a quickfire brace - assisted by Dickinson for both goals - to edge the hosts level, before Jon Stead and Jorge Grant completed the turnaround by full time.
"We were gutted with the first 15 minutes but we showed what we are all about after that," Dickinson told the official Notts site.
"We showed our togetherness, our spirit and our quality. It was fantastic from the boys. We reacted brilliantly.
"Once we got it back to 2-2 there was only going to be one winner. With some of the football we played in the second half and the chances we created, it could have been five or six.
"To beat a team from the league above, who will be comfortable at that level, shows how far we've come.
"If we can take that type of performance into the league I don't think many teams will beat us.
"We had a couple of results which didn't go too well for us but in the last few weeks we have got our mojo back.
"Sometimes we get labelled as a long-ball team but if you look at our past two games you will have seen how much quality we have."
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ARLukomski
Notts County put in one of the best performances in recent years in a 4-2 hammering of Bristol Rovers at Meadow Lane on Friday night to reach the second round of the FA Cup.
The visitors had led 2-0 after the first 15 minutes thanks to goals from Liam Sercombe and Stuart Sinclair to seemingly set up a long, torrid evening for the Black and White Army.
However, the Magpies rallied round as a quickfire brace from Ryan Yates edged them level by the break, setting up a second half in which the hosts had their opponents under siege.
Ultimately a further two goals, from Jon Stead and Jorge Grant, saw the League One side knocked out of the competition, while Notts are in the hat for round two.
ARLukomski, a Notts vlogger and Pride of Nottingham contributor, discussed the fixture ahead of kickoff, gave his thoughts as the game went on, and talked about the performance and result after the final whistle.
Follow ARLukomski on his YouTube channel by clicking here.
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Joe Jones
Darrell Clarke has claimed that his "weak" Bristol Rovers players were "bullied" throughout their 4-2 defeat to Notts County in Friday night's FA Cup first-round tie.
The Magpies found themselves two goals down within the first quarter-hour but spectacularly turned it round through strikes from Ryan Yates, Jon Stead and Jorge Grant.
“That 90 minutes sums up our whole season, we are so inconsistent,” Clarke told the Bristol Post.
“We were weak and bullied – we caved in and they got back into the game. It’s not good enough.
“It was just weak, collectively as a group we were weak, and we were bullied against a physical team that do what they do very well.
“Obviously they’re doing well in League Two but for me that sums up our season and there has to be things that change, and things will change.
“I am a ruthless person, and at the end of the day they’ve [the players] got a big few weeks to keep showing me that things will turn around. Because I will make changes, there will be big changes.”
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan has claimed that there is more to come from Notts County in terms of performances following their exhilarating 4-2 win over Bristol Rovers.
Although the Pirates powered into a two-goal lead early on in Friday's FA Cup first-round encounter at Meadow Lane, the hosts turned it around in swashbuckling style.
Ryan Yates' quickfire brace brought Notts level in the first half before Jon Stead and Jorge Grant completed the turnaround, though it could have been more for the Magpies.
"We were disappointed to lose the goals in the way we did but the reaction, attitude and application showed the camaraderie we have," Nolan told the official Notts site.
"Some of the football we played shows how much hard work we have been putting in on the training field.
"My lads are now starting to hit the heights I believe they can get to and I still think there is a lot more to come.
"We have to make sure we keep our feet on the ground. We can enjoy it because these nights are magical when you win against a team in a league above.
"Sometimes you win these games because you have held in there with grit and determination but tonight these lads deserved what we got and I am delighted for them.
"We're still learning but what we have got is guts and determination - and that is massive.
"All I want now is a home draw in the next round because if we get that, we feel we can take anyone here."
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Joe Jones
Notts County are in the hat for the second round of the FA Cup after coming from two goals down to clinch a stunning 4-2 win over Bristol Rovers in Friday night's first-round clash at Meadow Lane.
The game was frantic from the off, with Rory Gaffney rifling just wide in the second minute and, at the other end, Jorge Grant's free kick was hooked over the bar by Terry Hawkridge four minutes later.
In the eighth minute, some dire Magpies defending helped Rovers edge into the lead as Joe Partington's cross from the right fell into the path of the unmarked Liam Sercombe, who nodded home from close range.
And four minutes later, more substandard work from the Notts backline meant that a corner from Chris Lines found Stuart Sinclair unmarked in the six-yard box to plant a header beyond the reach of Ross Fitzsimons.
Credit to the hosts, they quickly found gear after the double setback and, just before the half-hour mark, halved the deficit through Ryan Yates, who made the most of some lacklustre Rovers defending to nod Carl Dickinson's free kick into the back of the net.
Just two minutes later, the Black and White Army at Meadow Lane was sent into a frenzy as Yates struck again, turning home another great Dickinson set piece delivery against the League One side.
Rovers were lucky to get to half time level as Kevin Nolan's side looked threatening every time they went forward.
On 39 minutes Jon Stead was bundled to the ground but nothing way given by the referee, while a Shola Ameobi backheel into the path of Hawkridge was drilled wide.
Both sides gave as good as they got early in the second half as Tom Nichols and Gaffney tested Fitzsimons, while Grant curled an effort just over the bar, but by this point Notts were getting in an even higher gear.
Just before the hour, the tie was turned around in County's favour thanks to a clipped pass from Dickinson finding Grant, who crossed into the box where Stead was on hand to sidefoot the ball beyond Adam Smith.
The action came thick and fast as Notts continued to put in a superb team performance, with Rovers keeper Smith being tested on several more occasions, but Grant added the cherry on top in injury time for the hosts as he went clear through on goal after latching onto Hawkridge's headed flick on, before slotting underneath Smith to send Meadow Lane barmy.
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Joe Jones
Terry Hawkridge is optimistic about Notts County's chances of overcoming Bristol Rovers in the first round of the FA Cup tonight.
The 27-year-old was part of the Lincoln City team last season that went all the way to the quarter-finals of the competition, the first non-league team in 103 years to reach the last eight.
"Anything can happen in this competition - that's the magic of it," Hawkridge told the official Notts site.
"Playing against Arsenal was massive. For a non-league side to get to the quarter-finals was big, but the whole cup run was special.
"It was a big part of my career and I made a lot of happy memories, so I'm looking forward to making more here.
"We've got a good enough squad to go on a cup run but we have to take it one game at a time. We have to get past Bristol Rovers first and then see what happens.
"We played Scunthorpe earlier in the season and lost on penalties, which was unlucky. This will be another big test for us tonight but it's one I think we can get through."
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Joe Jones
Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke has admitted that his squad is currently being stretched to the limit ahead of their FA Cup first-round trip to Notts County.
The Pirates have a fairly small senior squad as it is, with 24 players - Notts, in comparison, have 29 - and have been hit by injuries, with the likes of star winger Billy Bodin and defender James Clarke currently out.
Rovers have played 21 games so far this season and, although Clarke did manage to rest some of his key players in the EFL Trophy defeat to West Ham in midweek, he admitted that it's a juggling act at the minute.
"I managed to rest a few in midweek," Clarke told the Bristol Post. "That was our 21st game, that seems a hell of a lot of games given we're only just into November.
"I've not got a massive first team squad and it was important that I rested a few the other night, so we're ready to go on Friday. Something has got to give, even Premier League managers are moaning and they've only played 10 league games!
"I've got injuries. I've got James Clarke long term. I've got Billy Bodin. I've picked up one or two more injuries and knocks this week as well. All of a sudden the signs are that we're pretty depleted, which we can't afford to be.
"I've got a squad of seniors but three or four are only 20 or 21 years of age. We're not blessed with a massively big squad, we've got an Under 21's which we've just set up and we want to build them into better players.
"I've haven't got the biggest squad in the world, we have to make sure we balance it right because I've got injuries to squad players and we've picked up one or two minor injuries this week. We've got be careful how we manage it."
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Joe Jones
Notts County and Bristol Rovers have met a grand total of 87 times over their history.
The first fixture came on the 11th January 1913, a 2-0 win for the Pirates in the FA Cup at their former home ground, the Eastville Stadium.
The Magpies have claimed 31 wins and 29 draws against Rovers, whilst falling to 27 defeats.
Our last meeting was in League Two on 5 March 2016 at Meadow Lane, the visitors winning 2-0.
Bristol Rovers was founded in 1883 as Black Arabs F.C., and were also known as Eastville Rovers and Bristol Eastville Rovers before finally changing its name to Bristol Rovers in 1899.
The club's official nickname is The Pirates, reflecting the maritime history of Bristol. The local nickname of the club is The Gas, from the gasworks next to their former home Eastville Stadium, which started as a derogatory term used by fans of their main rival Bristol City but was affectionately adopted by the team.
Rovers were admitted to the Football League in 1920 and have played there ever since, apart from spending the 2014–15 season in the Conference Premier.
They previously came close to losing their league status in 1939, when they were re-elected after finishing bottom of Division Three (South), and in 2002 when the team finished one league position away from relegation to the Football Conference.
Their highest finishing positions were in 1956 and 1959, on both occasions ending the season in 6th place in Division Two, then the second tier of English football.
The only major cup competition won by Bristol Rovers is the 1972 Watney Cup, when they beat Sheffield United in the final. The club also won the Division Three (South) Cup in 1934–35, as well as winning or sharing the Gloucestershire Cup on 32 occasions.
The team has never played in European competition; the closest Rovers came was when they missed out on reaching the international stage of the Anglo-Italian Cup in the 1992–93 season on a coin toss held over the phone with West Ham United.
In the FA Cup, Rovers have reached the quarter-final stage on three occasions. The first time was in 1950–51 when they faced Newcastle United at St James' Park in front of a crowd of 62,787, the record for the highest attendance at any Bristol Rovers match.
The second time they reached the quarter final was in 1957–58, when they lost to Fulham, and the most recent appearance at this stage of the competition was during the 2007–08 season, when they faced West Bromwich Albion.
They were the first Division Three team to win an FA Cup tie away to a Premier League side, when in 2002 they beat Derby County 3–1 at Pride Park Stadium.
They have twice reached the final of the Football League Trophy, in 1989–90 and 2006–07, but finished runners-up on both occasions.
On the second occasion they did not allow a single goal against them in the competition en route to the final, but conceded the lead less than a minute after the final kicked off.
Actor Nick Frost is a Bristol Rovers fan, with his character Danny Butterman seen wearing a club shirt in the 2007 film Hot Fuzz.
The retired Conservative MP for Hayes and Harlington Terry Dicks, is also a Gas fan. He mentioned the club in parliament on 5 May 1994 when debating with Labour MP and Chelsea fan Tony Banks.
Team news
Kevin Nolan is not believed to have any fresh injury worries since the win over Newport but has not given any indication as to whether he will ring the changes in Friday's FA Cup first-round encounter.
Rovers top goalscorer Billy Bodin has been missing since injuring his hamstring in the win over Northampton Town four weeks ago, while defender James Clarke is out until the new year after a leg operation.
Darrell Clarke spoke of other players nursing knocks and, having rested a number of his charges in the midweek EFL Trophy game with West Ham, is expected to return to a stronger line-up.
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Joe Jones
Matt Tootle has praised Kevin Nolan for the support shown to him since the manager's arrival at Notts County in January.
The left-back has been speaking out about his problems with mental health and how they threatened to derail his career at one point.
In May, Tootle revealed revealed how he had enjoyed a superb season at Crewe Alexandra going into the summer of 2014, but "something then just triggered" in his mind while he was on holiday in the off-season.
Over the last few weeks, the 27-year-old has spoken to the likes of talkSPORT about the topic, which has prompted waves of support from people who have been affected by mental health issues.
In an interview with the official EFL site, Tootle said: “The reaction has been unbelievable – for me it has been quite emotional.
“From the place I was in to be able to speak out now, I take great pleasure in trying to help people. I know what some of these people are going through and to hear about how much I have helped is really good.
“Since the new manager has come in he has been unbelievable with me. He knows me and what I need. When I came back after the summer he and the assistant manager both congratulated me telling me how proud they were that I’d come through this.
“I was worried they would ‘tag’ me... but if anything they saw it as the opposite, which was refreshing to hear. I like to think that they’ve seen I’ve come on leaps and bounds and that there is much more to come from me as well!”
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Joe Jones
Kevin Nolan is looking forward to Notts County's FA Cup first-round encounter with Bristol Rovers and is eager for his players to show how far they've come as a team.
The League Two leaders welcome the Pirates - who ply their trade in League One - to Meadow Lane on Friday night and the Magpies manager believes his side have a great chance of making it through to round two.
"Bristol Rovers will give us an indicator of how far we have come in such a short space of time," Nolan told the official Notts site.
"When we went to Scunthorpe in the Carabao Cup we applied ourselves really well and there were a lot of positives to take. That's what I'm expecting tomorrow.
"The pressure's off. The lads are really looking forward to it and so am I.
"I hope we can produce another good performance to give ourselves a fantastic chance of making it through to the next round.
"I've never been in the competition this early before so this is something new for me."
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Joe Jones
Notts County's League Two campaign will be put on ice this weekend as the FA Cup rolls into town, or more precisely, Bristol Rovers, who stand between the Magpies and the second round of the competition.
With all lower-league eyes firmly on the third round and the possibility of a fixture against a big Premier League side, Notts and Rovers - currently in League One - will want to get their names in the hat for the lottery.
In this Opposition View article, Pride of Nottingham spoke to Rovers fan Gary to get an insight on the opposition.
About Gary: In my 30s, been a Gashead since 1992, and my favourite player is Lee Brown.
Rovers dropped into the Conference in 2014 then enjoyed back to back promotions and now play in League One. What was behind this fall and subsequent rise?
Relegation was a bit of a (im) perfect storm that season. The board withholding funds for players with a view to funding a new stadium, one of the two January arrivals suffering a season-ending injury, John-Joe O'Toole's goal drought and of course that dreadful last day. Keeping faith in Darrell Clarke was key - he rebuilt the team following relegation, and he repaid the faith with a solid, well-drilled and talented squad, hence the back to back promotions.
What's your rivalry with Bristol City like, and what other teams do you consider as rivals?
Oh, we hate City. It's a pretty strong rivalry, and especially with how their owners have created the "Bristol Sport" brand, with the intention of monopolising sport in the city and shutting us out, it's disrespectful towards us, so yeah, a lot of bad blood.
Bristol Rugby played at the Memorial Stadium for a number of years, and rugby is big in that region - are a lot of Gasheads supporters of both?
Not since they became part of the Bristol "Sport" umbrella, they now play at Ashton Gate and virtually none of us want anything to do with them. Most Rovers fans will follow Bath Rugby if they're into the egg-chasing.
Rovers played in Bath for a number of years in the 80s and 90s - what's the current stadium situation like for the club?
A mess, in all honesty. We had been in talks with the University of West of England over a new stadium but, given the amount of things they wanted control over - security, external event revenue - it wouldn't have been good for us, so we broke off talks, and we're now looking at reveloping the Mem.
Who are your danger men?
Billy Bodin was our top goalscorer last season with 13 goals and this season he has nine in 15 games - and he plays as a winger! Up front, Ellis Harrison and Rory Gaffney have been in impressive goalscoring form, while summer signing Tom Nichols finally got off the mark in our last game.
Score/scorer
2-1 Rovers, Nichols and Gaffney with our goals and onto the second round we go!
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Joe Jones
Newport County defender Dan Butler has won his appeal against the red card picked up in his side's 3-0 defeat to Notts County.
The 23-year-old was sent off by referee Craig Hicks in the 34th minute of the League Two game at Meadow Lane for leading with his elbow as he challenged Matt Tootle for a high ball and left the full-back needing treatment.
Newport submitted a wrongful dismissal claim and have now received confirmation from the FA that the claim will be upheld and Butler’s three-game suspension has been withdrawn.
"It's a massive relief," Butler told the South Wales Argus following the decision.
"I was gutted for the boys and for myself because I felt like it changed the game when I went off.
"It's common sense really, to jump high your arms do need to be at a certain level.
"If you throw an elbow at the same time then I agree that is a red card but I think you could clearly see there was no forced with my elbow.
"I just used my arms to get as high as I could to win the ball.
"I'm not going to comment on the referee but it definitely wasn't a red card and thankfully it's been taken away." 
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Joe Jones
Notts County have reportedly been ordered to pay former manager John Sheridan £125,000 following an appeal against the grounds of his sacking.
The 53-year-old was let go from his role at Meadow Lane in January after losing nine games in a row, the club saying he was dismissed for gross misconduct after he was banned from the touchline for five games following a rant at officials in the game against Wycombe Wanderers in December.
The Football Association released details of Sheridan’s outburst to referee Eddie Ilderton and fourth official Matthew Donohue in that game, which Notts lost 2-0.
“You're a f****** c***,” Sheridan said to Donohue, before shouting at Ilderton: “You're a f****** disgrace, you f****** useless, you've not f****** got anything right today, you should be f****** ashamed, you're f****** ****, my kids aren't going to get any f****** Christmas presents because of f****** you.”
Sheridan launched an appeal against his sacking, claiming gross misconduct was not the sole reason.
And according to the Daily Mail, the arbitration panel in Nottingham decided in Sheridan's favour -  the LMA pointing out his sacking came five games and 23 days after the defeat to Wycombe -  and ordered Notts to pay him compensation.
The report goes on to say that Sheridan, who is currently out of work after leaving Oldham Athletic, may pursue County Court action if the club refuses to pay.
There have been no confirmations or comments from Sheridan, the LMA or Notts.
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Joe Jones
Terry Hawkridge is hoping that he can embark on a successful FA Cup run with Notts County this season, much like he did with Lincoln City last year.
The Imps went all the way to the quarter-finals of the competition in 2016-17, the first non-league team in 103 years to reach the last eight.
Hawkridge was a key component of the Lincoln team that made it that far in the competition, as well as sealing promotion to the Football League.
Now at Notts, who are preparing for their first-round encounter with Bristol Rovers at Meadow Lane on Friday, the winger spoke of his aspirations.
“Obviously what we achieved at Lincoln was something incredibly special and we went on a great run which gave us plenty of memories,” he told the Nottingham Post.
“I would love to do the same with Notts this season and it would be amazing to see if we could go one better as you always set out to try to go as far as you can.
“But you cannot get too far ahead of yourselves. We’ve got a very tough game on Friday night and they will want to experience exactly the same.
“We’ve got an excellent home record and nothing to fear, so it should be a good game.”
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Joe Jones
Notts County boss Kevin Nolan has revealed that he has had to tell Jorge Grant to stop being so critical of himself.
The 23-year-old grabbed a brace against Newport County at the weekend, which saw him edge into the double figures mark for goals.
During the 3-0 win over the Exiles, however, Grant's over-eagerness to impress - and its subsequent impact on his play - led to Nolan having to have a word with him.
“I told him not to try to eat himself up,” Nolan told the Nottingham Post.
“Sometimes he was trying a bit too hard to impress people instead of being normal Jorge and building himself into the game.
“He was trying to force things and I just said ‘go back to your one and two touch’ because if there is one person in the squad who can do it more than others then it’s him.
“You saw that against Newport. He had a few indifferent touches but I had a chat with him and just said to calm himself down.
“He beats himself up too easily and he shouldn’t do that because he’s an outstanding talent.
“We have to help him with that. But I thought he grew into the game on Saturday and showed some real touches of class.”
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