Sam Bunce
Notts County climbed back into the automatic promotion picture in League Two while Tranmere’s woes this year continued.
The Magpies ran riot to dismantle Tranmere Rovers at Meadow Lane, inspired by new signing Lee Ndlovu’s impressive brace.
Ndlovu was rewarded for his surging run and pass into the box when Jason Lowe inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net after 15 minutes.
Ndlovu then scored two goals in quick succession from close-range when County upped the ante at the beginning of the second half.
Jodi Jones’ deflected effort and substitute Matthew Dennis’ penalty capped off another three points at home, ensuring County earned five home league wins in a row for the first time since 2023.
Martin Paterson made three changes from the 1-0 loss to Shrewsbury. Ndlovu made his first start since joining from Barnet in January at the expense of Matthew Dennis, who was among the substitutes. Alassana Jatta was still absent through injury.
Tranmere Rovers also entered this encounter coming from a 1-0 midweek defeat, and collected just one win from their last eight in League Two before proceedings commenced.
Notts County started firmly on the front foot with a flurry of chances in the opening stages, ending with centre-back Matty Platt dragging his shot just wide.
Rovers goalkeeper Marko Marosi spared the blushes of Lowe when he almost turned Tom Iorpenda’s cross into his own net, but Marosi couldn’t rescue the defender at the second time of asking.
Paterson’s decision to entrust Ndlovu to lead the line paid dividends. He glided past the Tranmere defenders and put the ball into a dangerous area. Nathan Smith’s initial clearance ricocheted off Lowe into his own net, which gave the Magpies an early breakthrough.
Ndlovu continued to cause headaches for the visitors when he chased a lost cause and outmuscled Stephan Negru, using his physicality intelligently. This afforded him a clear route to goal, but Marosi thwarted the County striker by rushing off his line to smother.
Tranmere’s top-scorer, Charlie Whitaker, registered his side’s only shot on target of the contest with a tame free-kick just before the interval, summing up Tranmere’s lacklustre attempts to restore parity.
County came flying out the traps in the second half, carving their opposition open without breaking too much of a sweat.
Nick Tsaroulla was toying with his defender on the right-flank and the ball fell to Ndlovu, who instinctively steered the ball home to double Notts County’s advantage.
His first goal in a County shirt, and his contributions certainly staked a claim to be deployed more frequently, something perhaps unanticipated given the attacking prowess of Jatta and Dennis.
Tranmere were floundering and taking unnecessary risks by playing out from the back. County sensed an opportunity to press high, and Conor Grant picked the pockets of the Tranmere defender.
He shifted the ball to Ndlovu for the striker to net an impressive brace, and the floodgates had truly opened for the visitors.
Two minutes later, Ndlovu notched an assist by releasing Jodi Jones in front of the Kop, who scored his first league goal at Meadow Lane in over a year through a deflected strike.
A comfortable four-goal lead prompted Paterson to make a triple change, with Ndlovu receiving a rapturous applause for his afternoon’s work when he made way for Dennis.
County’s top-scorer was on the hunt to inflict more misery on Tranmere, but he was stopped in his tracks by a well-timed sliding challenge by Negru.
Yet, Harald Nilson Tangen was deemed to be pulled back in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. Dennis took the opportunity by calmly sending Marosi the wrong way, and stepped up to put the nail in the coffin.
County had put together their most emphatic and biggest win of the season in completely dominant fashion, proving the narrow loss to Shrewsbury was perhaps a rare blip in the pursuit of promotion.
Sam Bunce
Featured image courtesy of Sam Bunce. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 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.
