Chris

A rollercoaster August on the pitch for Notts County has ended on a somewhat sour note as the Magpies were held to a 2-2 draw by Accrington Stanley. In Friday night's League Two fixture at Meadow Lane, rescheduled due to a fixture clash with the neighbours over the Trent, the Magpies edged into a 1-0 half time lead thanks to Jon Stead's penalty. Things got even better for Kevin Nolan's charges as they doubled their lead in the 54th minute through Jorge Grant, but for the second consecutive game, this was to be wasted. First, Mark Hughes looped home a volley, then in injury time, after a player from each side had been sent off, Mallik Wilks struck the equaliser. Here is Pride of Nottingham's review and analysis of the match. Was the result fair? It’s harder this week, as on one hand Notts didn’t deserve to lose their 2-0 goal lead but on the other we didn’t finish our chances which ultimately lead to Accrington coming back into it. Putting aside tactics, changes, and the woeful decisions by the officials, I actually feel the final score doesn’t reflect well on the game at all. How did Notts play? First half we passed the ball around well, defended efficiently but that same old problem of rushing when in the final third appeared. Until the Jon Stead penalty, I honestly couldn’t see Notts scoring and that decision lifted the confidence of the players. My gripes against Accrington is that we simply weren’t fluid enough when it came to truly finishing the game off – yet several players did perform well and as a team we did okay. How did Accrington Stanley play? They passed the ball well, made good movements and actually looked sharper when they focused on playing football (not pulling shirts or diving) – yet they didn’t defend very well and heavily relied upon their goalkeeper. When it came to scoring opportunities they didn’t really threaten as much as I felt they should have, I’d describe them as the typical ‘League Two’ team. Did our tactics work out? In a way, yes, the tactics set out by Kevin Nolan worked. It allowed Notts to play with a level of confidence but there were visible signs that needed adjusting at half time – whilst the substitutions actually balanced the game in Accrington Stanley’s favour. Reverting to one up front in the second half really had a negative impact on the game. How did the referee perform? Possibly one of the worst referees I will see this season, he gave fouls for literally nothing – most of the time he seemed to favour Accrington. Whilst they as an opposition side focused on shirt pulling, physically restraining players and pushing – very few of these decisions were noticed. I feel the penalty decision was quite soft, and a call which he felt probably would balance up his poor decisions – yet he was card/whistle happy and I just wanted to see him assert his authority a lot more without being daft. Who do we play next? Port Vale – a team which will give us more of a football match, and Notts will need to show their determination towards achieving a respectable league finish by ensuring we leave with a good result. How should we play them? It’s obvious to suggest, yet I have been calling for it for a while now – start Jonathan Forte in place of Jon Stead. Also, bring back Lewis Alessandra, allow Jorge Grant to play a more direct role just behind the forwards when in procession and allow someone like Rob Milsom to be the forward thinker in midfield. Without completely changing the balance, there’s not a lot Kevin Nolan can do but I feel this would give us favour over Vale and how they may possible set themselves up. Defensively we need to be accountable, only commit when there’s a good chance of winning the ball – so Richard Duffy go back and access your defending against Coventry City and Stanley. Stanley fans view (courtesy of Accringtonweb): Phil Whalley: Terrific spirit from the Stanley boys, Wilkes a superb finish after a Sykes nod on for an unlikely point. Once it went 10 vs 10 we were all over them. Chappers MOM by a country mile, let's get behind this lad, he needs to keep building his confidence. McLeod terribly unlucky to be sent off, he was rightly fuming. A really good point against one of the better Notts teams of recent years. Alvin the Chipmunk: Best goalkeeping performance by any Accy stopper in many a year. Not a vintage performance but sheer bloody mindedness salvaged a point. Lord Stiffupperlip: Another stonewall penalty denied, which could have won us the game. But how & why were they given theirs? Must be the softest penalty award ever! Monkey Hanger: Still a penalty as one of our lads charged into the back of one of theirs in the box. Soft maybe but did Kayden go down too easy with the push. Penalty for me anyway as contact was there. just going off the highlights which was not the ref's view. Share your thoughts about this match analysis article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

A topsy-turvy August on the pitch for Notts County has ended on a somewhat sour note as the Magpies were held to a 2-2 draw by Accrington Stanley on Friday night. In the first League Two fixture of the weekend, rescheduled due to a clash with the neighbours over the Trent, the Magpies edged into a 1-0 half time at Meadow Lane lead thanks to Jon Stead's penalty. Things got even better for Kevin Nolan's charges as they doubled their lead in the 54th minute through Jorge Grant, but for the second consecutive game, this was to be wasted. First, Mark Hughes looped home a volley, then in injury time, after a player from each side had been sent off, Mallik Wilks struck the equaliser. Pride of Nottingham was at the Lane for the game, and as always, we spoke with fans and took pictures of them. See if you've made it in this week's Faces of PON! Share your thoughts about this week's Faces of PON on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County's season continues to move in an upwards trajectory after an impressive display - albeit with a temporary blip - in a 4-2 win at Wycombe Wanderers in Saturday's League Two encounter at Adams Park. Richard Duffy opened the scoring with a header and some comical defending led to Adam El Abd scoring an own goal to see the Magpies two goals up early on, a position retained at the break. Wycombe, to their credit, fought back and clawed two goals back, but perseverance from Notts saw Jonathan Forte claw his side back into the lead before he laid the groundwork for Lewis Alessandra to add a killer fourth. In this article, Pride of Nottingham looks at several aspects of the game, from the performance to whether the result was fair, and how to build on from a successful weekend. Was the result fair? It’s refreshing to write this - Notts fully deserved the win and, although claiming all three points was made tougher by allowing Wycombe back into the game, County fully deserved to power on and claim the win, so absolutely fair! How did Notts play? Notts put together a fine performance in the first half, with the pressure heavily preventing Wycombe gaining any forward momentum. The opening goal saw a surge from Notts, and for the most part the football was bright. In the second half, we saw that jagged play return and Notts looked out of the game after conceding twice. Yet things clicked after Jonathan Forte scored and Notts seemed hungry for more goals! How did Wycombe Wanderers play? First half they were simply outclassed, and looked certain to fall victim to a heavy defeat – yet Gareth Ainsworth managed to spark a temporary revival which saw the host take the game to the visitors. Overall they put together a heroic performance but fell short when it truly mattered. Did our tactics work out? Kevin Nolan introduced Jorge Grant to the starting 11, and applied tactics, which would cast doubts over the ‘route one’ claims – in the first half Notts played some very good football, showing no fear against Wycombe and working hard. A relapse briefly, mostly due to a loss of focus – would eventually see two substitutions fix anything that may not have been working. The tactics from the word go, to the in-game plans worked a treat! How did the referee perform? There were some dubious decisions, yet he largely allowed the football to flow throughout the game and would only fall to some very minor criticism from me. Who do we play next? Accrington Stanley, who are they? Don’t forget that the game is played on Friday 25th due to the Forest game. How should we play them? It’s hard to consider any changes after the recent results, and performances, there are very few things to suggest. Others may wish to see Adam Collin dropped for Ross Fitzsimons but this is extremely unlikely to happen. Given the opportunity to add a bit of pace upfront instead of Jon Stead is the only change I would suggest. Notts must continue the direct approach, whilst maintaining the spirit to score and of course ensuring the play stems from the floor. I would suggest that centre of the park is the ideal area for us to explore, as there should be more time to create chances there. Wycombe fans view (courtesy of Gasroom.org): fedup1980: There is no denying that the quality of our football is very poor regardless of the goals. Shev: Left ourselves too much to do. Three of their four goals were horribly soft. At least we are finding the net - 7 in 3 games, but 8 conceded is not going to cut it. bill_stickers: I'm less angry at the 4-2 than I was at 2-0. At least we played some footie second half and it was entertaining. Their third was undeserved but the fourth just shows how poor we are defensively compared to two years ago. Shev: It did show something to get back to 2-2, but it is a shame we look so wobbly every time a ball is knocked into our box. There are going to be a lot more high scoring games, seeing as so far both teams are guaranteed two goals just for showing up. Glenactico: Similar game to Cheltenham. Stinking start left us chasing the game, then we stuff up the comeback with some woeful defending. I'd venture that our attacking football was better than County's. Second half we were excellent and looked a real threat. Could easily have put ourselves 3-2 ahead. Defensively we look horrible. Not winning enough in the air and Brown really hasn't inspired any confidence at all. wformation: A disappointing result today, but the second half did show that we can play football which is enjoyable to watch. Unfortunately, the OG in the first half and the third goal, following a foul close to our penalty area, undid the improvement. If the squad maintain the style we played in the second half I think the rest of the season could be very exciting and certainly enjoyable. Already we have scored 7 but conceded 8. So we can't say we are not seeing many goals. With the injured players back who knows how much better we might get. COYB's Share your thoughts about this tactical analysis article on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.