William Wigg
Notts County came into the game against League Two strugglers Carlisle in mixed form with three wins, one draw and one defeat in their last five games. County sitting just below the automatic promotion spots gave them a huge opportunity to really kickstart a second half of the season promotion push against an impotent Carlisle side that had only scored 21 goals in the league this season. Another key boost for County was the returning Jodi Jones who returned a football league high 23 assists in the 2023/2024 season. Jones would be looking to add to his goal on his first start back against Bromley with another impressive performance.
Notts County began the game on the front-foot, however, three wayward long balls ceded possession to Carlisle which halted the home side’s momentum. Carlisle responded to the early pressure from County by releasing Joe Hugill in behind the Magpies’ backline. Hugill’s movement into the left channel in an attempt to beat County’s aggressive high-line would become a theme of the match. Despite this, Hugill was never able to pose any real threat to Alex Bass’ goal.
County were constantly looking for underlapping runs following slow structured build-up to move into the opposition’s third. This patient approach was rewarded following a succession of underlapping runs from George Abbott leading to two quick fire chances for Alassane Jatta, the first of which was awkwardly sent wide, however, two minutes later when Jatta was presented with a golden chance at the back post he wouldn’t make the same mistake again and comfortably headed home past Gabriel Breeze to score the only goal of the game. County showed a real dominance following the first goal creating multiple shooting opportunities, the best of which forcing an unbelievable stop from Breeze after David McGoldrick surely thought he put his team two goals up. A few strange moments rounded out the first half when Aaron Hayden was caught a little lackadaisical on the ball and his clearance was pounced upon, almost leading to a freak deflection goal before inevitably petering out along the goal line. Carlisle also almost capitalized on County’s defensive complacency when all three central defenders found themselves well into Carlise’s half, allowing a quick long ball over the top to release Joe Hugill through on goal. Hugill was eventually held up, reducing the panic in Meadow Lane before the chance eventually came to nothing.
County failed to build on a dominant first half display mustering only four shots in a second half which they never really looked like taking control of. Possession spells swung from team to team through the half with Carlisle having the better chances hitting the post instantly in the second half. The majority of the second half led to palpable frustration from both sets of supporters and following Jodi Jones’ substitution there was very little to cheer about for the Magpies. County looked far too happy to give up possession when defending, allowing long barrages of crosses into the County box late on which they were lucky to avoid conceding from.
Following some nervy box defending in added time Notts County ended up victorious in a hard fought and at times unsatisfactory performance. Referee Abigail Byrne was unfortunately one of the highlights of the game keeping it under control and not making herself known when unnecessary.
MOTM: David McGoldrick:
George Abbot was given man of the match on the night, however, my pick of the players was David McGoldrick. McGoldrick showed his technical excellence multiple times as well as an impressive engine considering his 33 years of age playing the full 90 minutes plus injury time. McGoldrick showed a constant technical empathy buying space and time for his teammates to manoeuvre the ball comfortably and retain possession, a vital element of what Stuart Maynard demands from his Notts County team.
William Wigg
Featured image courtesy of [@schuh] via [Unsplash]. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of [nottscountyfc] 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.
For more content including uni news, reviews, entertainment, lifestyle, features and so much more, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like our Facebook page for more articles and information on how to get involved.
For further sports content and ways to get involved, follow @ImpactSport on Twitter and Instagram, and like the Impact Sport Facebook page!
