Kian Gadsby
Notts County suffered a 1-2 defeat at home to Barrow to lose further ground in their quest for automatic promotion.
County came into the match in 4th place, 3 points outside of 3rd and the automatic promotion places. They had only lost once, against league leaders Walsall, in their last 11 matches.
Barrow meanwhile have endured a disappointing campaign. They are 19th in the table following an 8th placed finish last season, and had only scored eight away goals all season before tonight’s match.
The match between the two sides earlier in the season ended 1-1. An injury time penalty from David McGoldrick cancelled out a first half goal from Barrow’s Rory Feely, who has since left for League One Crawley Town.
The major team news was that January signing Mai Traore made his first start for the hosts, who had influential players Jodi Jones and David McGoldrick out due to injury. Barrow meanwhile made 5 changes from their 1-0 defeat at home to bottom of the league Carlisle, including reintroducing Elliot Newby to the starting lineup.
Notts County started the game dominating possession, as they have become accustomed to this season. However, some sloppy play allowed Barrow to create space down the left-hand side and pull the ball back for Kian Spence to tap home, giving the Bluebirds an early lead.
Barrow grew in confidence and looked the better side throughout the opening exchanges. County’s Lewis Macarj was forced to pick up a yellow card for preventing Tyler Smith from going in on goal by bringing him down as the visitors seemed more than happy to try and hurt their opponents on the counter.
County started to ramp up their pressure 25 minutes in. George Abbott had a drive from the edge of the area blocked, and Traore was inches away from getting contact on Will Jarvis’ teasing cross.
Ten minutes later, Notts County swung a corner into the box and Jacob Bedeau headed the ball back across the face of goal. Alassana Jatta had a free header, but he hit the crossbar from 6 yards out and the ball bounced clear, meaning the Magpies stayed behind.
Boos rang around at halftime, as County failed to convert their 76% possession into goals.
Notts didn’t respond well after the break. Barrow started to have more joy, and Leo Duru had a chance to make it 2-0 following a sustained period of pressure, but his shot from inside the area rattled the post.
The Magpies were clearly struggling for inspiration in attack, and Stuart Maynard turned to his bench and brought on Conor Grant for Jarvis.
However, it was Barrow who would score the next goal. Ben Whitfield’s corner found Sam Foley, who headed the ball beyond Alex Bass in the County goal. 2-0 Barrow.
That 2-goal lead would barely last a minute, as County hit back straight away. The decision to substitute on Grant proved to be a good one, as he got in behind the Bluebirds defence and slotted the ball into the far corner, halving the deficit.
Notts started pushing for an equaliser, and Charlie Whitaker forced Foley into making a brilliant block to deny a certain goal. Substitute Nick Tsaroulla then hit a volley from the edge of the box which stung the palms of Paul Farman in the Barrow goal.
The home fans then started roaring their team towards the goal, and they thought they had their equaliser.
County were controversially awarded a corner, which George Abbott volleyed home through a crowd of players. After a long wait whilst the officials conferred, the goal was disallowed for offside against a Notts player in the crowd, so the score remained 2-1 Barrow.
The 7,790 home supporters in attendance were irate with that decision, but County continued to push forward. Kellan Gordon sat two defenders down, before finding Abbott, whose header whistled wide of the post.
At the end of the 90 minutes, the fourth official indicated 7 additional minutes for County to get something out of the game. Whitaker glanced a header just over the crossbar, but the hosts were unable to find a goal before the final whistle.
The defeat was County’s first at home against Barrow in the football league since 1965. This result leaves the hosts still in 4th, as promotion rivals Doncaster Rovers, AFC Wimbledon and Port Vale were all unable to win. Barrow rise to 17th with their first away win in 6 months.
Notts County are next in action on Saturday 8th March with a crucial game at promotion contenders AFC Wimbledon, whilst Barrow host Accrington Stanley.
Kian Gadsby
Featured image courtesy of @jaenix 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.
In article image 3 courtesy of @barrowafc 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!
