Kian Gadsby and Sam Bunce
Jodi Jones scored on his return to the Notts County starting lineup, but the Magpies were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by newly promoted Bromley, which damages their promotion hopes.
Notts came into this game in 6th place and in fine form, having won 5 of their previous 6. Bromley had just suffered 3 consecutive defeats but have been having a very impressive first ever season in the football league as they kicked off the game in 12th place.
The big news came in the starting lineups. Both sides made 2 changes, but the most significant was County’s star man Jodi Jones made his return from injury. Jones recorded 24 league assists last season, a record for English football, and his return was welcomed very warmly by a lively home crowd.
Jones linked up beautifully with David McGoldrick
Jones’ creativity was always going to be influential, especially given the absence of Dan Crowley after his transfer to MK Dons, and this showed after only 6 minutes. Jones linked up beautifully with David McGoldrick, before feigning a cross and almost looping his shot over Grant Smith’s head in the Bromley goal. It hit the crossbar, and Smith recovered well to deny Jatta from the rebound.
Jones was clearly relishing his return, and he appeared indestructible, to quote the County fans, as he beat defenders to put crosses into the box and made an impressive recovery run to deny Bromley a counter attack from a Magpies corner.
County are known for possession-based football, and they dominated proceedings in the opening exchanges. The game almost fell into a lull, until Cameron Congreve had to change his kit after a challenge, meaning he finished the half without a number on his shirt.
This incensed the home fans and livened the game up. Bromley had the next real effort, with Idris Odutayo stinging the hands of Alex Bass. Moments later, County went up the other end, and Smith had to do well to prevent a through ball reaching George Abbott.
David McGoldrick then had the best chance of the afternoon so far, beating the offside trap to go clear of the Bromley defenders, he was denied 1-on-1 by a brilliant save from Smith. From the resulting corner he saved again, this time a rasping drive from Rod McDonald, keeping the scores level.
The end product wasn’t quite good enough, something that was a theme of the first half
Having travelled from London, Bromley’s travelling support was impressively loud. Their team responded well and ended the half in the ascendancy as Michael Cheek almost got on the end of a ball across the face of goal. Unfortunately for them, the end product wasn’t quite good enough, something that was a theme of the first half.
The second half almost started disastrously for County, as Cheek nearly scored following an attempt by Bass to play out from the back. Despite this, they didn’t change their style of play, and the hosts continued to control possession.
They were rewarded for this with a penalty 10 minutes into the half. Jones slipped McGoldrick through, and he was taken out by a poor challenge. Jones sent Smith the wrong way and scored, giving County the lead.
Jones was replaced by Nick Tsaroulla after an hour to a thunderous reception, and Notts used the atmosphere this created to make chances. Jatta had a shot blocked after rounding the goalkeeper, before McGoldrick was also denied on the follow-up.
The second half had less opportunities than the first, with Bromley mostly able to prevent County from having clear shooting chances but struggled to create their own. County eventually brought on new signings Charlie Whittaker and Will Jarvis to try and find a second.
However, Bromley did find themselves an equaliser. Cameron Congreve, in a shirt that now had his name on, fired a shot from just inside the box that beat Alex Bass and went in off the post, making the score 1-1 with 10 minutes to play.
Whitaker missed a glorious chance
County then had to weather a spell of Bromley pressure, before they regained control. Whitaker missed a glorious chance, firing his header at the back post wide from 6 yards. Tsaroulla was then unable to control the ball a similar distance from goal, allowing Smith to gather.
The 9,597 home fans in attendance tried to roar their team on and were excited by the prospect of 5 additional minutes. However, there were no clear opportunities in that time, and the game petered out to a draw.
This result leaves County in 6th place, although they haven’t lost much ground with Bradford and Doncaster the only winners in the top 8. They are 2 points behind Doncaster in third, although Notts do have a game in hand. Bromley remain in 11th and have claimed their 4th draw in 5 visits to Meadow Lane.
Impact’s Man of the Match: David McGoldrick.
The veteran striker showed his Premier League experience with an influential performance. He was central to everything that went well for County, including winning the penalty, and his presence was sorely missed when he was substituted.
County’s next fixture is Tuesday 28th January at home against relegation threatened Carlisle United, whilst Bromley travel to fellow newly promoted side Chesterfield.
Kian Gadsby and Sam Bunce
Featured image courtesy of Terrace Grain via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @bromleyfc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
In article image 2 courtesy of @nottscountyfc via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.?
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