Izale McLeod bags brace as Notts County labour to Morecambe draw

Izale McLeod was the saviour for Notts County on Monday afternoon as his brace secured a point in a 2-2 draw against Morecambe in their League Two meeting at Meadow Lane.

Defence has not been a strong point for Ricardo Moniz’s side in recent months, and this weakness was exposed once again as, just eight minutes in, Jamie Devitt picked up the ball and played a defence-splitting pass into the path of Shaun Miller, the striker making no mistake as he put the ball into the empty net from a tight angle.

After twenty-one minutes played, it was to get even worse for the Magpies as Miller outpaced defender Theirry Audel, who brought him down in the penalty area and conceded a spot-kick which the Shrimpers forward took himself. 

Carroll managed to parry his shot but Kevin Ellison - who had already hit the crossbar with a shot after five minutes - was quicker to react than anybody else and smashed the ball into the net to put the visitors two goals to the good.

With the home crowd increasingly on their side’s back, County started to press and won several corners before McLeod found himself one-on-one with the visiting goalkeeper after 37 minutes and tried to lob the ball over him – Barry Roche collected it comfortably, however. 

Nevertheless the former Crawley striker atoned for his error when he managed to beat Roche with a volley from a cross in the dying moments of the first half, getting his side back in the game and giving them the chance to mount a concrete comeback after the restart.

With just after an hour played, McLeod sent Meadow Lane barmy after Thierry Audel rose highest to meet a corner and sending his header goalwards, before it was flicked home by his attacking teammate from close range to complete the comeback.

Having come back from the brink, the hosts went in search of a winner, Roche beating away Jon Stead’s first-time shot after a flowing move 20 minutes from time before Graham Burke fired a shot into the side netting.

Ultimately, Notts couldn’t maintain the attacking momentum and strike a winner, giving them a share of the points at the final whistle as the pressure continues to mount on Moniz.