Match Report: Magpies’ Dominance Undone by Port Vale’s Clinical Counter

i thought notts were the better team, but it was a repeat of gillingham where we just did not create a good enough chance to get back into it this time round. we had something more about us against gillingham, but there was not enough quality on goal. its not the end of the world, we can regroup but the results at meadow lane need to improve and notts must play teams like port vale/gillingham in a way where we can get more efforts on goal.

I think that Notts were the better side over the 90 minutes, & Notts had several chances in that first half, that another day would have gone in.

Apart from the goal, I thought that Notts were comfortable in defence apart from the last few minutes when they were pushing up trying to get an equaliser.

We have to bear in mind that Notts were without 4 of their best players, Jones, Edwards, McGoldrick & Grant, & they were clearly missing today to get that cutting edge, which was not there.

If you look at the table it looks like teams are beating each other, & Notts are still in the mix just one point behind Walsall, who are top 

Notts just need to keep battling and get through to the new year, there or there abouts near the top, then hope to get Jones, Grant & Edwards back, plus a new striker in the transfer window to boost their promotion push.

At the end of the day, we need something extra up top and a striker who can finish chances outside the penalty box. Notts can try to walk the ball into the goal or score from a cross, but it won’t always work. Defensively, we need to be more alert in crucial stages. The Port Vale goal changed things for Notts. I think we would have scored if they hadn’t. I never felt we would equalise after that. I’m disappointed but see things we can take away.

Notts needed David McGoldrick today. I don’t know why we are so afraid to test the keeper from distance. The passing is encouraging at times, and our midfield is one of the best, but we didn’t play to Jatta’s strengths enough. He didn’t look like he would change things. It’s not his fault; it’s how we attacked as a team. He’s not a striker who involves himself non-stop until he pulls a chance off. You have to provide him with the chance to score by playing him into threatening areas.

I wish we had scored before they did. I think it would have ended 1-1. The game had a draw written all over it, but Notts lacked sharpness on goal today. In a different scenario, Notts could have won, and that’s the disappointing part about the result. Kellan Gordon looked good, with some decent crosses, but Jatta was isolated most times and unable to involve himself.

I feel disappointed that Notts never really tested the Port Vale keeper. We forced him to make one or two good saves, but those efforts went straight at him.

From what I can gather reading all the Comments on here and other HYS sections, this match was full of What If's . Like what If Notts had scored in the Opening 20 minutes, What If Notts had tested the Port Vale Keeper more, What If Dan Crowley played further Forward. Well they Didn't in Answer to the First two Questions and He Didn't in Answer to the third. I Believe the Magpies had 70% of the ball during the game, that doesn't Matter come the Final Whistle Port Vale had a Goal to their Name and Notts Didn't, so they get the Three Points. If their Goal was Offside (obviously the Ref didn't think so) that's why he gave it, we can sit here and Debate the Match, but whatever we say or write isn't Going To Change The Match Result. We just have to Hope Lessons have been Learned. Such has Notts need to play Four At The Back, Dan Crowley needs to push up and Not play so  Deep and Jatta needs support and Not  just be left on his own to toil Up Front.

I don’t know how Port Vale fans can be happy with their performance, even with the 1-0 win. They were poor and missed an open goal. That summed them up as a team, but they defended better. Then again, they parked the bus at every opportunity and tried to put every player behind the ball. Notts needed to be a lot more clinical on goal.

I’m disappointed by the outcome. I thought Notts looked good, but the defending for the goal was poor. I wish the players would continue until fouls are given and make sure we don’t allow teams to have easy chances, offside or not.

Good match report. I wish we had more attacking options on the bench because the game could have been turned around. We don’t need to panic, but some fans are worried about the impact on the Chesterfield game. If we win that, the worry will be for nothing. We need to work on being less predictable in front of goal.

The result wasn’t what we deserved. I think a draw would have been fair, but if Port Vale had taken their only other clear chance, I don’t think we could have come back from that. We’re doing well though, with plenty of games and points still to be earned. I understand the disappointment, but let’s focus on the positives, we can work harder to score from the chances we did create. I still believe we can compete with the top three, so let’s make sure we get the maximum points against Chesterfield and keep pushing forward.