Notts County 3-2 Grimsby Town (EFL League Two) 12.08.23
After the disappointment of the last week’s results, Luke Williams’ Notts County were looking for a strong reply ahead of the visit of Grimsby Town this Saturday. Both Williams and captain Kyle Cameron emphasised, following the 5-1 defeat to Sutton, the importance of bouncing back and righting the wrongs that were so obviously apparent last game-week.
A bumper crowd was expected at Meadow Lane for what was County’s first home EFL game since 2019, and just under 13,000 fans were packed inside the stadium for what was a thoroughly entertaining match. Notts however did not get off to the ideal start when former Mansfield Town striker Danny Rose fired the Mariners in-front, picking out the bottom corner from inside the box. After capitalising on a poor back pass from the County defence, which inadvertently sent him through on goal, where the front-man made no mistake, slotting the ball into the bottom left corner. A little over 20 minutes later however, the Magpies would be level, when John Bostock chested an Aaron Nemane cross and volleyed home, leaving Grimsby ‘keeper Jake Eastwood rooted to the spot. Notts kicked on following their equaliser, and had a golden opportunity to go ahead just minutes later when John Bostock’s sublime pass down the left-hand side found Jodi Jones, who sent in a low cross towards frontman Macaulay Langstaff, which took a nick off defender Harvey Rodgers, changing the direction of the ball ever so slightly, meaning Langstaff could only fire over from around 6 yards out. All their hard work would be undone deep into first half stoppage time, as Mariner’s midfielder Harry Clifton was sent through by Tobias Mullarkey, who found his team-mate with a lovely scooped pass over the Notts defence, and the midfielder made no mistake, slotting home beyond the despairing Aidan Stone, putting the visitors firmly in the driving seat at the interval.
Trailing at the break, Williams’ men needed a response in the second half, and just five minutes into the second period, they got their equaliser, when playoff semi-final hero Jodi Jones sent in a deflected cross off the boot of defender Luke Waterfall, which fortuitously looped over Eastwood in the Grimsby net to tie the game up again. The comeback was then complete around 10 minutes later, after a skilful nutmeg from Jones on the left flank beat the defender, and his inch perfect cross was headed home by a diving Dan Crowley to send the 10,000 or so County supporters into raptures. They were made to wait anxiously though, as for the last quarter of the game came a Grimsby Town wave of pressure, with Rekeil Pyke coming closest to a late equaliser, with a header which was well saved by Notts ‘keeper Aidan Stone. But the Magpies would hold out for their first EFL victory of the season, despite late pressure from the Mariners.
Notts will now look forward to the trip up north on Tuesday evening where they will hope to build on this impressive victory with another strong performance against a tricky Morecambe side, who themselves will be looking for a strong response, following a disappointing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Mansfield.
Magpies: Stone, Brindley, Rawlinson (Chicksen 82), Cameron, Nemane, Palmer, Bostock (O’Brien 70), Jones (Adebayo-Rowling 82), Crowley (Scott 81), Langstaff, McGoldrick (Austin 73).
*Article provided by Will Sey (Notts County Correspondent).
*Main image @Official_NCFC Danny Crowley celebrates scoring for Notts County.