Yeovil Town 2-2 Notts County (National League) 23.03.21

After beating the same side on Saturday 2-0 at Meadow Lane, Notts County had to come back from two goals down to rescue a point in Somerset as Neal Ardley’s men continue their promotion push with yet another late comeback to at least take something from the game.

One change in the County makeup as Ben Turner came in for Alex Lacey but a huge change in performance, chalk and cheese from Saturday’s win after a dismal first half, invariably you get two games the same and Yeovil to their credit were a different beast second time of asking.

Slocombe forced into an early save from Reid on six minutes before County had a couple of sniffs themselves, Smith bundling home from a corner on the half hour put the Glovers 1-0 up and when a penalty was awarded seven minutes later after Turner hauled down Tom Knowles, Reuben Reid made no mistake to put the hosts two up.

Two changes for Notts at half time included Turner and Effiong being replaced by Dion Kelly-Evans and Jimmy Knowles and the response was improved for the Magpies but it wasn’t until the 63^rd minute when Ruben Rodrigues entrance from the bench forced an even bigger change for the better, his introduction giving Notts extra dynamism in midfield, before Enzio Boldewijn exploded into life.

The winger can so often be hit and miss but has the ability to do the extra-ordinary and on 79 minutes he smashed home from the edge of the area after spinning with his back to goal, another fabulous Notts finish from a side that seems to only do screamers.

That goal pegged Yeovil back and Doyle went close hitting wide on 84 before super-sub Rodrigues was on hand to calmly finish after good work from Jake Reeves and Jimmy Knowles in the build up.

In the dying seconds of injury time it could even have been better, Knowles crossing to Wootton who fired wide, the striker and Notts top scorer now five matches without a goal.

In the end, relief for Notts but Neal Ardley was far from happy saying after “I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed in a first half” The Manager furthered “I have to praise them for the comeback but we shouldn’t be in that position in the first place”.

Notts attention next draws to the FA Trophy Semi-Final against Hornchurch where a win will see them reach Wembley for the second time in a year. Hope is when attention draws back to the league that Notts can make that trip again as reaching the dizzy heights of Sutton in top spot is looking ever-more difficult as the weeks go by.

Yeovil Town: A. Smith, Worthington (Warburton 82), Hunt, Dickinson, Knowles, Kelly, Skendi, Reid (Quigley 85), Neufville, Lee, J. Smith.

Notts County: Slocombe, Barnett, Turner (Kelly-Evans 46), Ellis, Rawlinson, Doyle, Reeves, O’Brien (Rodrigues 62), Boldewijn, Effiong (Knowles 46), Wootton.

Venue: Huish Park

*Main image @YTFC action from an entertaining game of two halves.