I am delighted with the team's performance against Southend United. As the league leaders Notts comfortably collected all three points at Meadow Lane, outclassing the sixth-placed Shrimpers. Although Southend made some changes to their starting line-up, they could not stifle the creative play Notts shown. Macauley Langstaff scoring his 31st goal of the season is a pleasing moment, and John Bostock and Sam Austin worked well to find the back of the net. Southend had some early threats, but this Notts dominated most of the game.

One of the finest performances this season,

There has been a lot of talk about player performances but for me Connell Rawlinson and Sam Austin deserve huge praise, both have done well when played. Austin has been a perfect signing and Rawlinson has reclaimed his composure.

On his day, he's a very good defender who puts his body on the line without thought.

The performance being topped off with 4 goals, is only outshined by the clean sheet.

I don't think Sam Slocombe was all that troubled but clean sheets are to clean sheets.

Notts displayed a collective sense of responsibility for their performance, resulting in a commendable win and three points earned.

This attitude has been a hallmark of the team throughout the season, evident in every game, regardless of the players selected for the starting line-up. The 14 players who played on Tuesday stepped up to the challenge and delivered a strong performance. Their cohesive effort and commitment to the team's goals have been an integral part of Notts' success this season.

Two players who particularly stood out were Bostock and Jones, both demonstrating their ability and match fitness with impressive performances, playing the full 90 minutes. Despite Southend's off-field predicament, their fans displayed remarkable support on a school night, demonstrating an impressive sense of togetherness. The fans' unwavering support for their team was a testament to their dedication and loyalty to their club. Overall, the game showcased the strength of both teams, with Notts' collective effort and Southend's passionate support, resulting in an entertaining and memorable match.

Great result in the end, onwards and upwards

Not much to say after this one as I missed it, but it's not always easy to travel to a team who are fighting for their lives. Good result and another +3 on the goal difference. There was a brief moment of elation when Wrexham conceded an equaliser, but unfortunately it was only brief. But we can only continue doing our thing, winning and hoping that we're through in 13 games (or 15 at most).

i thought it was destined to be a draw but when we score late in games, another tends to follow. maybe yeovil morale dropped enough to make the difference with bagging the other goals. maybe @GrannyPie gave them a whack with her walking sticks. i am just glad that we did not drop any points.

hopefully on tuesday we can make it 7 wins in a row.

wrexham are starting to leak goals left right and centre, so we have everything to play for. ????????

7 hours ago, menzinho said:

And breathe… Was anyone worried at half-time? I wasn’t ???? ????

Got to give everyone credit for that turn-around, like to hear what people thought about our first goal, was it controversial? Sounded like it wasn’t a head injury and it’s up to the ref to stop the game. It’s a competitive contact game after all and one of my bug-bears is players kicking the ball out for players who aren’t actually injured.

Great result, even though Wrexham dropped points we’ve just got focus on us. We’re doing unbelievably well at the moment I love this team, just hope we can keep this winning run going!

Sometimes I think players ask for what they get, with so much play acting and going down because they get hit by a feather it makes referees jobs impossible. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. If it's a clear case of acting, book them, if it's a " professional foul" send them off, I don't do all this " taking one for the team" rubbish, it's cheating and should be treated as such. I can't bring myself to watch the premier League because I might as well watch a good film, at least some of the acting is believable.

Worst game Baldwin has had in a  Notts shirt by a considerable distance I thought. He really did not like being given the hurry up by Barnet's press. That being said, I thought our whole back three and two central midfielders were struggling with it as well. Bostock hated it and was really found out with it, he was denied the time to get the ball onto his left foot and find a pass. I thought Palmer's ball to Baldwin for their goal was a poor one, it had too much pace on it. TAR really struggled, but it was his first game back in a long time.

Our front line was much better as there was a lot of space for them to move around in, but the final ball was poor at times. Wingbacks needed to drive the ball into the box hard and low as their giant back line gobbled up most aerial balls.

Second half we were much better and the Barnet press was spent after around 55 minutes. They were basically out on their feet for the last 20 minutes and this gave all our players the space and time to play. 

A lot of credit should go to the referee for not falling for the play acting and he did produce the highlight of the match for me with that daft spray line, I thought he was going to paint a dirty picture the way he started!!!

Definite Langstaff goal BTW and I can only assume the Lino did not think he got a touch as he looked well offside to me.

Our energy levels must be immense as we are looking far fitter than most teams in the closing stages of games. LW should take a lot of credit for rotating and keeping the guys this fresh.

MOM: Jodi Jones

P.S. Wrexham fans moaning that their side is looking leggy and tired. Is their cup run catching up with them? They have a lot of Tuesday/Saturday games lined up.

P.P.S. I still love Vinny...

I'm still buzzing after that second half! In the first half we showed a lot of slow, sloppy play and it could have gone very wrong for us. We were too reliant on lofted crosses up front and looked nervous at the back. Obviously their goal was a howler on our part, but their man showed quick thinking by taking it first time when many would have tried to run through. The second half was totally different, we were quick, incisive, looked like scoring with every attack and we just overwhelmed them.

Jones is a quality signing and Vincent is as good as a new signing. Both were involved in the goals. Happy days when we can bring players like that off the bench!

The icing on the cake was Wrexham finally dropping points. It feels like a small turning point.

Another win, and it’s a big one, arguably our toughest away game given the rivalry.

Attack wise I thought we played ok, we just didn’t really work the ball through the midfield quick enough to beat the Chesterfield press and we struggled to find those pockets of space that we usually do. Macca's goal was great though, that touch was absolute quality! But that corner a side, we defended very well, Slocombe wasn’t really troubled. Yes we sat quite deep at times but Chesterfield really struggled to find any space and Rawlo, Baldwin and Cameron defended our box terrifically.

A note for Dobra, if you dish out, you’ve got to take it. Made me laugh at the time when he was nudged in the back he threw himself to the floor and their physio’s were holding his head like he’d been flung through a car-windscreen.

Very gritty win, sheer character and determination got us through. This is about the hardest fixture you can have in this division, and if Chesterfield had played the whole match with the focus and discipline they showed after we scored our winner, they may well have got something from this game. Hopefully they can throw a spanner in the works against our friends from north Wales.

Dobra is a cheat and should be ashamed of himself.

i bet they feel silly for postponing the game because of their injuries/suspensions and manager being side lined. it was never to do with the pitch in my opinion. if they have frost covers they did a lousy job of protecting it.

it just makes this victory all that more sweeter.

the players did well, i liked seeing them acknowledge the fans when we scored or needed their vocal support more. 12th man!

I initially thought their goal came from a Baldwin error, he misses his header and allows an easy finish to their striker.

Having seen the highlights, however, it's not his fault and he's effectively marking their only 2 men in the box when we have 4 'defending' in the immediate vicinity:

It's a counter-attack from a corner. Bad pass from Bostock, but not one we shouldn't recover from. We do a good job in getting numbers back defending, but I think it is Palmer who should be picking up his man and Ruben (?) helping him out. Midfielders and attackers though, don't always have the 'defenders brain' and see the danger incoming. 

Rawlinson certainly does see it, and is indicating as much.  Rodrigues is more concerned with returning to his normal position and Palmer is ball-watching:

By the time the cross comes in, Ruben is too late and Palmer is massively out of position, perhaps trying to close down the pass to midfield when that's easily already covered by Bostock:

The reaction by Rawlo is pure frustration at the lack of defending basics: Stick with your man and don't get attracted to the ball. Rodrigues pointlessly barely moves with his hand in the air claiming an offside where there clearly isn't one; Palmer is chasing shadows. 

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Good post @Super_Danny_Allsopp. Completely agree that either Palmer and Ruben should have picked up Lapslie, but both move up to beyond the 18 yard line. Just before the ball is played in, Baldwin glances across but he is stuck between the two attackers as he cannot commit to either. That being said, it was a quality cross that 9 times out of 10 would not have found the intended target.

Bostock's pass was really clumsy and poor for a player of his quality.

He's quick to realise and chases after the ball, but at some point his brain tells him to drift away rather than to press more by running more into the channel. 

Cameron and Chicksen couldn't react better to their bursts to defend, although that's easy for me to say without the adrenaline pumping. Cameron seems to be torn whether to support Bostock or make a move to cover the centre. At the point he commits, he really should try to stay natural to the ball positioning.

Chicksen is just in a panic, fleeting back with quite some pace but unaware as to where others are around him.

By the time their player receives the ball to pass, you can see we are only just starting to organise ourselves.

I don't think the players prepare themselves for what looks like a floating cross into an area where we should have easily covered the ball.

To be fair, seeing the highlights, the fault lies across the majority of the team.

Starting with the weak pass by Bostock, to the unorganised defending. Slocombe is a little slow to respond to the balls bounce, but his decision to move late - only putting up his left knee sums up the lack of awareness. There's honestly not much he could've done, but a quicker response to play may have seen him cover it. Those in front really should do better, even having bodies behind the opposition player can prevent someone getting on goal.

If we didn't have the occasional relapse, I would be worried but from a discussion point it was poor.