When I saw 1 up top, and a midfield containing Swift my heart sank. So naturally the formation worked, albeit against a piss poor Notts County, and Swift was a very deserving man of the match with an excellent display.
First half first 10 it looked like that if we conceded we would concede a few. We looked in a bit of a panic, and Wes made two good strong handed saves to keep it 0-0. But as we got to grips with the new formation and County, we pushed them back and started to dominate. Although we didn't create anything of note, we always looked like we could at any moment. Gladin fizzed a shot just wide, but that was about it.
The two controversial parts of the half came when firstly Byrne was booked for diving - hard to see if it was correct from my DRS seat but it looked plausible, and then when Willo took what look like a punch after he and the dirty cunt 15 got tangled up on the floor after a tangle. Now i have a little sympathy with the ref here, he was watching the game, but it happened about 10 feet from the lino who seemed to say he didn't see it. Nice one McGoo. Turnbull was booked for dissent, and that was correct even if understandable given the circumstances.
The ref was shit, no two ways. I'm not sure if he was making up for his ineptitude when he didn't book a county player that looked like a carbon copy of the dive Byrne made, maybe he thought it was a foulf and bottled it who knows.
Second half we , but Swift scored with a fine goal from about 20 yards. A low hard shot was powerful enough and pacey enough to beat Carroll. The second goal County will feel pissed off about, I already commented on it in reply to Audry, but it was a foul in the box, albeit one that doesn't normally get punished when the ball is on its way to being cleared anyway. Swift passed at the right time today, and seemed really well suited to his new free role supporting Williams. So much so Luongo was well and truely in his shadow today.
We added a third later on when Toffolo finally failed to hit the post from inside the area
Hylton made a cameo and it provided a great comedy moment as he came sliding in a bit late on one of the County players. Said player seemed to roll over about 5 times squealing like a pig, must be a fan of Deliverance. Funnily enough he got up without so much as a limp once the free kick and yellow card came.
So Town are back. Well nearly. There were a couple of things to keep an eye on, to be harsh.
Firstly we still look vulnerable on the break. A few times the County attack exposed us with attacking men left over. Branco made an excellent covering header to deny County a certain goal after a boal over the top caught out Thompson. And a greedy County player elected to blaze one over from distance when he had two players in the clear to his left.
Secondly we still aren't getting enough shots in.
But all in all a good day in the office. Very good indeed.
