Ayman Ahmer
Notts County 3-1 Dorking Wanderers
Despite gaining only 1 point from their last two matches, Notts County bounced back with resilience on Saturday evening. The home fans produced a rocking atmosphere, rallying their team throughout all the difficult periods of the game. Macaulay Langstaff, taking on leadership responsibility, continued his inspired form – taking his goal tally to 35 for the season. Tough and gritty performances as such should propel County in their pursuit of promotion.
Wrexham’s 1-0 victory against Southend prior to kick off at Meadow Lane, mounted pressure on second place County. Victory was imperative, coming off of two poor results to Dagenham & Redbridge and Bromley. The match commenced under bitterly cold conditions, with the additional expectation of a comfortable win. County started the game positively, parking themselves in the visitors’ half in attempts to find an early opening. They demonstrated signs of promise when finding Sam Austin on the ball in space between the lines. Conversely, Dorking seemingly possessed a great threat on the counter attack, breaking quickly from wide positions. The visitors’ early defensive solidarity was rewarded with an early goal in the 13th minute. Jason Prior’s toe poke finish found Dorking 1-0 up, albeit against the run of play.
County replied in belligerent fashion, six minutes later. Langstaff capitalised on Dorking’s defensive mishap following Aaron Nemane’s cross – slotting the ball past the helpless keeper. For the remainder of the first half, County continued to look dangerous. The hunger to seek victory was exemplified through their pressing at the top of the pitch. Langstaff’s consistent work rate forced the opposition into going long. While County dominated possession, there were still opportunities for Dorking to cause damage in transitions. However, they lacked the courage to go for the jugular, often opting for the safer option in passing sideward.
This goal epitomised the ruthless nature of The Magpies’ performance
County came out of half time with the bit between their teeth in sights of a winner. In the 50th minute Langstaff got his second, coming on to the end of Austin’s perfectly weighted cross. This goal epitomised the ruthless nature of The Magpies’ performance. Over the next half an hour the game gradually became scrappier as Dorking searched for an equaliser. In fairness to County they remained compact won their individual. Geraldo Bajrami was particularly impressive, keeping composure in defence, spraying balls out to the flank when he could.
Any lingering nerves were settled five minutes from time through Matt Palmer’s slotted finish – sealing the three points for the home side. For County, it was important to get back on track after a recent dip in form. Winning in the manner that they did should be a solid platform to build on for the remainder of the season.
Ayman Ahmer
Featured image courtesy of Nottingham Trent University via Flickr. Image use license here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @nottscountyfc via Instagram.com. No changes were made to this image.
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