Tom Henigan and Charlie Wood
Notts County remain in the race for automatic promotion after a dominant 3-0 victory over visitors MK Dons. Second half goals from David McGoldrick, Nicholas Tsaroulla, and Player of the Match, Will Jarvis, drove the Magpies to a vital win. County now sit just two points shy of the automatic promotion places with six matches to go.
Stuart Maynard’s half-time team talk sparked life into his side. Early on in the second half, the Dons’ defence afforded McGoldrick too much space on the edge of the box, allowing the former Republic of Ireland international to pick his spot in the top left corner, giving the Magpies the lead. His sumptuous finish moved his tally to 15 for the season.
The persistent second-half pressure culminated in County’s second just seven minutes later. After a surging dribble into a dangerous area, Jarvis delivered an enticing ball across goal, with Tsaroulla reacting fastest at the back post to double County’s lead.
The Player of the Match got his deserved goal
In the 74th minute, Jarvis continued to cause the visitors issues, cutting inside onto his right foot and curling the ball into the far corner to give County their third, as he left Connal Trueman with no chance. The Player of the Match got his deserved goal to cap off a dominant victory.
The collapse of the Dons’ defence will have frustrated interim head coach Ben Gladwin, who would have hoped to erase the memories of his side’s capitulation against Fleetwood Town.
Despite the eventual convincing victory for the hosts, the tie was certainly one of two halves. The usual possession-based start facilitated some sustained pressure for County at the beginning of the match.
Returning Daniel Crowley faced a rough reception from the Meadow Lane crowd. Crowley was instrumental in County’s 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture, before joining the Dons in the January transfer window.
The first chance of the game fell to County’s McGoldrick, whose header was dealt with comfortably by Dons goalkeeper, Trueman.
A flurry of intense challenges eventually breathed some life into the game after 25 minutes as both sides struggled to create any clear-cut chances.
County looked to have a decent opportunity at the half an hour mark as Kane Thompson-Sommers, Dons’ only change from the disastrous display against Fleetwood Town, brought down Will Jarvis on the edge of the box. However, McGoldrick’s effort could only hit the base of the wall.
Not long after, a burst of pace down the left flank saw Jarvis dance past his man, only for his cross to be misjudged by Conor Grant.
As half-time approached, McGoldrick had a header across goal fall beyond the outstretched leg of Everton academy graduate, and last outing’s Player of the Match, Charlie Whitaker.
Jarvis had a lovely solo run into the box
The Magpies showed some life at the end of the first half as Jarvis had a lovely solo run into the box from the left hand side, but to no avail as his ball across goal was cleared. County did win a corner not long after but weren’t able to muster up another chance as the sides went into the break with the score level at 0-0.
The next 45 minutes saw the Magpies boss the game. McGoldrick’s early goal after the break set the tone for a dominant second half where the visitors posed next to no threat towards County. The subsequent goals from the striker’s teammates, Tsaroulla and Jarvis, secured a commanding victory; an unlikely scenario at half-time.
Impact’s Player of the Match – Will Jarvis. The winger was the only man on the pitch to cause any real problems in the first half. After the break, he showed his end product, setting up the second goal before netting one himself with a wonderful strike on a night where he was impossible to deal with.
County will look to make it three straight wins at the weekend as they travel to playoff-chasing Colchester.
Tom Henigan and Charlie Wood
Featured image courtesy of Peter Glaser 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.?
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