Notts Co 1-2 Galatasaray

Meanwhile, Danny Haynes, County's new striker, wasn't in the squad.

Galatasaray also fielded a strong starting eleven, though the names on everyone's lips, marquee signings Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder, were on the bench.

Francois Zoko made his presence felt on the fourth minute, his cross being headed clear, while Galatasaray's first venture into the Notts half was on the ninth minute, Gökhan Zan's header wide for the visitors.

Just a minute earlier, "Number 22" delivered a fantastic, crunching tackle to win the ball, but this was harshly considered a foul.

Albert Riera, previously of Liverpool, then stung Bart's hands with a powerful shot to his right. Emre Colak also tried his luck from range, his attempt narrowly evading the top-right corner on 18.

Gary Liddle is certain to be instrumental for Notts this season, and his class showed as Umut Bulut's low shot was cleared off the line by Mr ELH. Yejta Kurtulus' rebound effort then smashed against the crossbar.

The pressure mostly came from the Turkish side, as Engin Baytar's effort, after dispossessing Notts in a dangerous area, went wide. Riera took a free kick soon after, again to no avail.

Interestingly, the referee blew the whistle out of the blue midway through the first half, purely to allow the players to rehydrate themselves. It was indeed a very hot and muggy day, not the best conditions for running miles across a pitch.

Not long afterwards, the Galatasaray fans turned up the heat a little more, as they lit a flare in the Jimmy Sirrell stand. Very unusual scenes for a League One crowd to witness, as was the presence of Drogba and Sneijder warming up next to the Derek Pavis stand, to whoops of delight from the audience.

Notts began threatening after the half hour point, with the front three of Zoko, Showunmi and Tyrell Waite causing trouble for the Cimbom defence. Joss Labadie was felled in the penalty area, but the referee waved play on.

On 36, Zoko's pass nearly set up Showunmi for what would have been a certain goal, but this was successfully thwarted by former Arsenal player Emmanuel Eboue.

The first half finished 0-0. The big two, Drogba and Sneijder, would be introduced to the game in the second 45, and within ten minutes, would be having an impact, Drogba's chance being heroically denied by home debutant Mustapha Dumbuya's last ditch block.

The unthinkable then happened: Notts County, courtesy of Enoch Showunmi, took the lead against the Turkish Champions and Champions League-bound Galatasaray! Yes, it took a heavy deflection off defender Dany Nounkeu, but nevertheless, Notts County 1 - 0 Galatasaray!

As the scoreboard provided a fine souvenir for all camera-holding Notts fans in the Pavis, the Turkish team set about trying to find an equaliser.

In fact, it could have so nearly been 2-0, as young Romello Nangle, he of the Colchester debut goal and euphoric celebration i front of the Italian Magpies, fired a long-range howitzer which narrowly dipped over.

On the 79th minute, however, came trouble. Striker Burak Yılmaz made the most of a miscued clearance to fire the ball past Bart, but Alan Sheehan's subsequent error of judgement resulted in him kicking the Notts keeper in the head instead of the ball. Cue a lengthy pause as the unlucky Pole was stretchered off after treatment.

Evergreen Notts legend Kevin Pilkington replaced the injured Bart, Fabian Speiss being unavailable due to a knee injury, but the story wouldn't follow the Notts script of him saving several dead-cert shots before heroically stopping a Drogba penalty as Notts would go on to draw or even win against one of the giants of European football. Instead, the producers would officially approve the Galatasaray script, whereby Wesley Sneijder, he of the World Cup final appearance and treble-winning Inter squad coached by Jose Mourinho, ends up scoring a 25-yard stunner in the final minute to salvage the glory for the big team.

The game finished 2-1, but the Notts players and staff can hold their heads high, only being undone because of a defensive lapse - nothing Kiwomya and his coaches can't fix - and a moment of magic from one of the finest players in the world in the last few years. Well done you Pies!