Northants Pie

Saturdays game for the Youth Team provided them with the opportunity to start the new year in a positive manner, unfortunately the lads lost 3 - 0 to Rotherham United putting in another disappointing display after a good win just before the Christmas break against Burton Albion. They went 2 - 0 down early on and never recovered despite starting the second half brightly, in truth poor decision making and a lack of a cutting edge proved to be their downfall. They go again tonight away against Mansfield Town with a 7pm kick-off looking to put in an improved performance. Mick Halsall said on the defeat to Rotherham "We will be working on decision making and options on the ball throughout the week and we will go again. We didn't produce enough. To get straight back on the pitch is great for us. We know Mansfield are decent at this level and have done well this season in the cup especially, as they knocked out Aston Villa, so it will be a difficult game against a confident side". The updated league table can be found here, the fixture grid can be found here View New Content - Live Centre - All Articles

With the New Year in full swing it seems like the perfect time to reflect upon what has been a very good first half of the season for the whole youth team and an unbelievable one for Colby Bishop who has gone from signing his Scholarship in December 2013 to starting for the first team in December 2014!! The young lads started the season with consecutive draws against Doncaster & Burton Albion respectively. The next three games all resulted in losses, the first coming against possibly the best team in the league Hull Tigers, the second loss was in the Youth Alliance Cup on penalties to Burton Albion after the two teams couldn't be separated for the second time in three weeks, the final loss came against Rotherham United 1-0. After a two week break the lads got back into winning fashion with an emphatic 4-2 victory away at Hartlepool United. In the next two games the lads went goal crazy scoring a total of ten with only one coming in reply. The first of these games saw Lincoln City beaten 3-0, the second saw York City thrashed 7-1 in their own back yard, with this being the biggest result of the season so far. After the massive high of scoring 14 goals in the three previous games the lads were brought down to earth with a thump in the next fixture losing 3-1 to Scunthorpe United. They quickly got back into winning ways in the next fixture beating Bradford City 3-2. The next game brought the biggest fixture of the season so far with an away trip to Peterborough United in the FA Youth Cup. Peterborough ran out comfortable 2-0 winners, the only highlight for Notts coming from the highly impressive display by the two central defenders Keenan Layton & Thomas Rigby. The lads responded to the defeat & most importantly the lackluster performance with their best performance of the season so far beating the league leaders and aforementioned best team in the league Hull Tigers 2-0, they quickly followed this up with another 2-0 victory just days later, this time against Grimsby Town. These wins were followed by a disappointing 3-1 loss to Doncaster Rovers. The last game of 2014 provided the lads with the perfect opportunity to go into the Christmas break on the back of a positive result, they didn't disappoint beating Burton Albion 3-2 at the Eagle Valley Stadium in a thrilling game that was end to end from the first to the last whistle. The lads sit third in the league just three points behind leaders Hull City having played 13 games, winning 7, drawing two and losing four, scoring 22 and conceding 22. The first game of 2015 is this coming Saturday 10-01-2015 at the Eagle Valley Stadium against Rotherham United in an 11am kick off. The League table can be found here and the Fixture grid found here Colby Bishop Colby Bishop continued his impressive form since he first signed his scholarship with the club in December 2013 by putting his signature on a two & half year professional contract in November 2014. He followed this up with an impressive display on his first team starting eleven debut in the boxing day loss to MK Dons. Although not due to officially link up with the first team squad until the start of next season he has found himself increasingly involved within the first team squad in December which only bodes well for the future of not only Colby but the Notts County Academy as he is yet another member of the current first team squad to come through the ranks. So when you see the lad involved on a Saturday lets all give him the extra support he deserves for his meteoric rise over the last 12 months.

Saturdays game for the Youth Team provided them with the opportunity to carry on the recent good form which saw them not only beat the league leaders (Hull Tigers) but move within 3 points of them in the league after the midweek win against Grimsby. In keeping with our current Doncaster Rovers vs Notts County news line the youth team were unfortunately beaten 3-1. Colby Bishop providing the solitary strike in the first half equalising the Doncaster opener. With the scores level at half time we started the second half brightly yet Doncaster who came into the game more and more as the half progressed took the lead and then added a third to run out comfortable winners. The youth team only have one remaining fixture for 2014, this coming against Burton Albion on the 20th December at the Eagle Valley Stadium with an 11am kick-off. The updated league table can be found here The fixture grid for all the teams can be found here The official site press release for Doncaster can be found here