Positive Performance By Magpies

Notts County 4-1 Shrewsbury Town (EFL League Two) 20.08.2025

It was to be a night to remember, under Meadow Lane’s midweek lights, for Martin Paterson’s Notts County side on Wednesday, they turning their winless start to the season emphatically on its head.

Having picked up a point in their opening four matches of the season, the Magpies welcomed a Shrewsbury side that were in a similar position before kick-off, they also having drawn one and lost three of their opening four outings.

The hosts though turned on the style from the off, netting twice in each half, posting an emphatic, 4-1 win, which saw them move up to fifteenth in the table, and just three points off the top ten.

The opening goal came inside the first ten minutes after visiting ‘keeper, Elyh Harrison, spilled Jodi Jones’ low cross into the box from the left to the feet of the prowling Matthew Dennis, and he netted his second goal in two games.

The home lead found itself doubled a little over ten minutes later after a corner led to goalmouth scramble, Sonny Aljofree lurking to fire home from around eight yards, with the visitors halving the deficit just after the half hour when John Marquis headed home a cross from Sam Stubbs.

The visitors had a great chance to equalise late in the half, Tom Sang’s corner met by Tom Anderson, with Kelle Roos saving brilliantly with a one-handed stop.

Leading 2-1 at the interval and County immediately struck at the start of the second half with Jones again involved; this time his drive through the middle, and pass out left to the charging Nick Tsaroulla, saw him cut in on his right and finished beautifully, curling into the far corner.

As the goals flowed, the Magpies upped the tempo and continued to turn on the style in-front of a buoyant, home crowd, and they were rewarded with a fourth with seven minutes remaining.

This was a case of three of Paterson’s five, second half changes combining; all three had come on as the game headed into its last quarter, Tyrese Hall and Kellan Gordon with some lovely link-up play before playing in Conor Grant, who’d replaced Jones, and fired homed a first-time, left-footed effort to put the icing on top of an impressive display.

With the visitors offering little in the way of an attacking threat in the second half, Sang sending an effort wide minutes before the hosts’ fourth, it would be the free-flowing County who’d keep the points in Nottingham, they celebrating a comfortable, 4-1 home success.

Next up for Paterson’s Magpies, they welcome Bromley to Meadow Lane on Saturday (23 August), before travelling to Mersey side a week later, and Tranmere Rovers on 30 August.

NOTTS COUNTY – Kelle Roos, Sonny Aljofree, Rod McDonald, Jacob Bedeau, Barry Cotter (Kellan Gordon, 69), Ollie Norburn (Tyrese Hall, 75), Matty Palmer (capt), Nick Tsaroulla (Keanen Bennetts, 75), Jodi Jones (Conor Grant, 69), Tom Iorpenda, Matthew Dennis (Maziar Kouhyar, 86)

County-Shrews was the only EFL League Two game played on Wednesday, with the rest of the division twenty-four hours earlier, with Crewe Alexandra the early pacesetters, with maximum points from their four outings, winning 4-1 away to Fleetwood Town, they, like County, netting twice in each half.

Grimsby are second after a narrow, 1-0 win away to Walsall, whilst third place Chesterfield suffered a 4-1 defeat of their own, against a Gillingham side who moved up to sixth as Armani Little scored two penalties, Lenni Cirino notched on his debut, and Marcus Wylie wrapped the result up in stoppage time.

Salford and Milton Keynes Dons are sandwiched between Chesterfield and Gillingham, the former winning 2-1 at home to Accrington Stanley, and the latter held to a 1-1 draw at Crawley Town, whilst Bromley make up the early play-off positions as they won 2-1 at Cheltenham Town.