Notts County vs Mansfield Town: Johnstone’s Paint Trophy

“Down 2 the Stags”

2nd September 2014

“The gulf in class between League Two to League One was made evidently on show as Notts County booked their place in the second round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with a comfortable 2-0 victory over local rivals Mansfield Town at Meadow Lane. A goal in either half from Ronan Murray and Jake Cassidy was enough to send Notts through on the night. The Magpies broke through on 27 minutes with a goal of exquisite quality. It began deep on the left just outside the Notts box and saw the ball worked downfield with Murray playing two sweet one-twos with Cassidy before beating opposing Goalkeeper Evtimov with a low finish across the keeper and inside the far post. County swept 2-0 ahead on 65 minutes. Cassidy ran at Riley from the right of the box and, although the defender, looked to have halted him, Cassidy somehow managed to wriggle past the tackle and slot a low finish under Evtimov from eight yards out.”

NOTTS COUNTY: Spiess, Mullins, Hollis, R. Murray, Cassidy (Harrad, 76), Jones, Thompson, Noble (Wroe, 83), Edwards, Brown, Cranston. Subs not used: Andrews, Keane, Whitehouse,

MANSFIELD TOWN: Evtimov, Riley, Sutton, Tafazolli, Marsden (Beevers, 87), Taylor, A. Murray, Clements (Bell, 73), Heslop, Fisher (Palmer, 66), Rhead. Subs not used: McGuire, Studer.

ATTENDANCE: 3,7801 (1,386 away)

REFEREE: Mark Haywood.

GARY ABBOTT (Notts County Assistant Manager): "I thought we won the game yesterday at the training ground. They were so keen to win, spirits were high and they didn't want Mansfield taking anything home. The performance was key tonight. We passed it as well as we've done all season. It was always going to be difficult against Mansfield, especially after the pre-season game where we saw they got some big strong boys playing. We competed well and got our ball-players on the ball, the likes of Reece Brown and he made things happen for us. I thought the move for the first goal was brilliant and it calmed everyone down and allowed us to play. I was pleased for Jake too, as he's been playing up there on his own a little and he works hard for the team. It's great to get them both on the scoresheet.”

FINAL POINT: I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory over our local rivals. We took our goals confidentially, and we were strong from start to finish. Our upper class showed through our accurate passing, keeping the possession more efficiently and through our constant urgency to keep pushing and pressing up the field and attacking the opposition throughout the whole ninety minutes. In my opinion, you could tell the difference in class between League One and League Two football. The amount of long balls that Mansfield Town produced to try and penetrate our defence was astounding. It hardly worked, as our centre backs Hayden Mullins and Hadyn Hollis who have formed an exceptional partnership in our backline so far this season, firmly dealt with the danger in the air confidentially with their superior strength and heading ability. I thought Curtis Thompson, who if im honest, ive slated in the past for being turned too easily defensively when being played in a more defensive role, was exceptional. His runs and pace frightened the opposition defence and he was able to help create numerous chances for our attacking contingent. He is most definitely better suited being employed in a more attacking role as this plays into his natural ability and strength of being able to run past both left and right backs freely with his blistering pace and produce a good standard of passing and crosses. I also thought that Reece Brown (Midfielder on loan from Birmingham City), and our number two Goalkeeper Fabien Speiss (Substituting for our number one Goalkeeper Roy Carroll due to an International Call Up), put in a good shift during this match as well, but in all honesty, I would deem that the entire team played to a good standard against a side that could’ve potentially caused us many problems, but we dealt with they threw at us well and we thoroughly deserve our place in round two of the Johnstones Paint Trophy. I would like to see us stay in this competition for as long as possible, as it is not only a good way of winning Silverware and earning an exciting trip to Wembley for a Cup Final, but it can also help to breed confidence that can hopefully, be passed into the League fixtures that I have always stated, is the “Bread and Butter” of any teams footballing season, but obviously a Cup run would always be nice for the fans as well. Finally, I would love for ourselves to be drawn against another local team to add extra spice to the tie (Somebody like Burton Albion), but in all honesty, as long as we are drawn at home, I would consider us to be a tough outfit for any team to defeat, especially in front of the Notts faithful at Meadow Lane. Either way, home, or away, we will be a match for anybody as long as we can produce the same level of performance we produced against Mansfield Town.