Delight as Notts County beat Crawley Town for first away win since August

Jamie Fullarton’s reign as Notts County manager has got off to the best possible start as he masterminded a 1-0 win away at Crawley Town, courtesy of a stunning volley from Filip Valencic, who made his full debut for the Magpies on Saturday.

In one fell swoop the former Nottingham Forest head of development righted a number of wrongs present under former manager Ricardo Moniz – that is, an away win (the first since the opening weekend of the season, over five months ago), a clean sheet (the first since our goalless draw with Bristol Rovers in October), a strong defensive performance, and a goal from a player that barely featured under the Dutchman.

The Reds started brightly with Matt Harrold surprising Roy Carroll with a shot inside a minute, which the goalkeeper fumbled. Gavin Tomlin was then unlucky to have his shot from a tight angle on the right tipped over the bar, as the home team looked to make an early impact.

It was all Crawley in the opening half an hour, but Notts maintained their composure at the back as their opponents proved lacklustre in front of goal, although Ronan Murray had to come to the rescue when he cleared Sonny Bradley's header off the line.

County regrouped in the second half and went on to take the lead after 63 minutes when Jon Stead found Valencic, who did not wait for a second invitation and volleyed past the diving Darryl Flahavan.

The visitors became increasingly desperate in the latter stages as they bid to get something out of the game, but Notts remained strong and steady at the back as they run the clock down until the final whistle, which was met with jubilation by the players and the travelling fans.

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Credit to Dan Westwell for the image