Notts County earn valuable point in goalless draw against Wycombe Wanderers

While a goalless draw at home may look like a negative result at first glance, Notts County gave their fans plenty to cheer about for the first time in weeks with a gutsy performance, a clean sheet and a bright second half against playoff-chasing Wycombe Wanderers in Monday’s game at Meadow Lane.

The visitors could have been behind inside three minutes as miscommunication between Ryan Allsop and Anthony Stewart allowed Adam Campbell to sneak on to a ball over the top, but the Bournemouth loanee threw out a hand to save his side’s blushes.

Wycombe slowly edged their way into the game before a clash of heads between Aaron Pierre and Curtis Thompson caused a lengthy stop in play, though both players were able to continue after receiving treatment.

Graham Burke fired wide from 25 yards following the resumption of play, while moments later, Max Kretschmar’s 30-yard free kick was misjudged by Scott Loach, who almost parried the ball into his own net.

In the 36th minute Notts carried out a routine straight off the training pitch as a short corner was worked to Jon Stead in front of goal, but his effort hit Adam Campbell before being cleared away.

Mark Cooper’s side carried on pounding the Chairboys box after the restart, Stead and Hadyn Hollis both heading over from close range inside four minutes.

Gareth Ainsworth’s charges, meanwhile, didn’t threaten until 15 minutes into the second half, Kretzschmar’s speculative drive failing to test Loach.

A flurry of chances for the away side then saw Pierre denied by two brave blocks, while Paul Hayes produced an acrobatic volley from the edge of the box which Loach did well to hold.

Notts had the final say in terms of chances, but when Izale McLeod was put clean through on goal, his one-on-one opportunity ended with a lob the wrong side of the bar.

In injury time, meanwhile, Hollis’s close-range header was thwarted by a superb Allsop diving save.

Despite not being able to register a goal, the final whistle was met by cheers and positive chants from the Notts faithful, buoyed by having witnessed one of the first hearty Magpies performances in a long time.

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