MATCH REPORT: Notts County 1-2 Swindon Town

A wet, freezing cold, late October day greeted the teams in this battle of the League Two strugglers at Meadow Lane this afternoon.

County flew forward from the start & Robins keeper Vigoroux had to be at his best to palm away an effort from Notts forward Kane Hemmings after just 30 seconds on the clock. Enzio Boldewijn was the next Notts forward to sting the palms of Vigoroux with an on target effort from range. Veteran forward Jon Stead was next to have an effort saved by the overworked Swindon keeper. Swindon came into the game a little around the middle of the first period forcing a couple of corners & from one of these Robins forward Martin Smith had a goal-bound effort blocked by Notts defender Elliott Hewitt. The goal County’s dominance deserved came five minutes before the break when a good cross by full back Cedric Evina was guided in at the near post by Hemmings.

HALF TIME Notts County 1 Swindon Town 0

Swindon boss Phil Brown would not be best pleased with his struggling side’s first half display but initially it was Notts who continued their 1st half dominance with efforts from Stead & Hemmings from distance that were narrowly wide of the mark. The games turning point was when Brown decided to bring on subs Steven Alzate & Elijah Adebayo & in the 64th minute it was Alzate who grabbed the Robins equaliser firing past Notts keeper Fitzsimmons after a mazy run. The goal seemed to galvanise the men from Wiltshire & they took the ascendancy from that moment & it came as no surprise when they took the lead on 80 minutes. A clever Adebayo back heel sent winger Matty Taylor clear & his low cross was turned into his own net by Notts defender Jamie Turley. The last ten minutes & the four minutes of added time were comfortably negotiated by the visitors to give them a very welcome three points to push them up to 12th place in the table.

This was a classic game of two halves. Notts made & fluffed enough chances in the first half to win two games & only the Vigoroux heroics & bad finishing kept the game alive for a Robins side that were truly awful in the first period.

The second half started the same as the first with Notts missing chances but Brown’s introduction of Alzate & Adebayo completely changed the game with both having important contributions to the turnaround in both performance & fortune.

words Ian Bradley, D3D4 roving reporter