Notts County v Swindon Town Matchday Thread

[reeves4england]

Made a fairly late decision to go to this one. Lots of traffic en route so 2.5 hours drive from Cheshire. Grabbed a swift pint at Beerheadz at the railway station. Scuttled on down to buy a ticket to find one bloke selling and sorting collections, and a steward telling people you couldn't pay by card when you could. Got in the ground to find the only hot food left was veggie pies (it was tasty enough). Got sent down the end because the middle section was full (it definitely wasn't).

And then the game began.

Penalty? Looked nailed on but I was a long way away. Haven't seen a video of it yet.
Goal number 1, Hutton takes a needless risk, Khan loses McGoldrick and we're 1-0 down
Goal number 2, hopeless effort from Uwakwe but their player's absolutely bought it. Never even thought the ref might give it until he blew.
Goal number 3, oh dear. Lost the plot after the pen and got punished.

Bostock and co were dominating the midfield and we were making mistakes at the back. We panicked when they pressed, and Kemp couldn't get any space to work his magic. In that first half, Notts were one of the best sides I've seen us play for a while.

A couple of much needed changes at the break, plus Notts easing off the gas, made for a very different second half. Why did Notts ease off? You could argue it's because they were 3-0 up, but I doubt they could have continued pressing in the same way for 90 minutes anyway.

Shade pops up at the back post with a lovely header and we're back in it. FBT should make it 2-3 but gets it all wrong. A couple of good saves by their keeper from RHM, but it wasn't to be.

A special mention for the officials. Not up there with the memorably bad performances, but multiple questionable decisions. We got caught offside a lot due to Notts County stepping out effectively, but the penalty decisions were poor imo and at one point Kemp was played through having been a yard or two onside and the flag went up. Was kind of glad he hit straight at the keeper.

That said, Notts deserved the win on the night. Plenty of encouragements second half, and I've seen a number of their fans giving us a lot of credit this morning which is refreshing. 1 point off second with a game in hand, so it's important not to lose perspective after one defeat.

[swindonmaniac]

Agree with most of the previous comments,  they look a good organised side,  we won’t play many better this season.
Second game in a row we’ve been denied a stone wall penalty, don’t know what we’ve got to do to get one, yet lesser tackles seem to be rewarded at the other end.
Their play was effective but not attractive,  would sooner watch our normal style of play any day.
Unbeaten run now over - upwards and onwards - hope Sparky is still at Bradford Saturday.

[singingiiiffy]

All of my thoughts from last night.

Meadow Lane- best stadium in the league and everything I would want swindon to have post redevelopment.

Except for the first goal (which was very harsh- a failed nutmeg on Hutton then a deflection and then a brilliant finish by mcgoldrick) we started brilliant and in control and looked very dangerous. Dokes split them up with a run

Heads went and Uwakwe lost all sense of positioning.

Mcgoldrick was a different class in terms of finishing, the assist and flick ons.

Uwakwe apart- defence and mahoney were very good in general. When county had their half hour spell the pass and move and through balls were excellent.

RHM was a headless chicken again but he is still dangerous and creates opportunities for himself and others. With his back to goal no one on our team should even contemplate passing to him.

Shade very good camero. Still looks a little lost at times due to nature of new role but FBT was communicating well.

Had chances to win and proper worry them- overall happy enough. Last away game was Walsall for context we are a completely different team.

For the numbers the away atmosphere was awful. Pre-kick off very good. Whistle goes and over half the crowd sit down in silence doesn't make sense.

2nd half with the goal finally went going again

[Bob's Orange]

Tough first half last night. Felt we went toe to toe with Notts for the first 10 minutes or so and it looked like a good contest between two good sides. RHM was denied what looked like a stonewall penalty, I'm not sure what he has to do to get one after Saturday's decision either. Bit of luck with their first goal but in McGoldrick you get a classy finish when in those situations more often than not. Uwakwe was having another poor game and after making a mess of trying to deal with a bouncing ball (don't think he knew whether to try and head it back to the keeper or away, he ended up doing neither) and clumsily barged their tricky winger Nemane over. It was a harsh call, but I can see why it was given. Langstaff sent Mahoney the wrong way to make it 2 from the spot. The third was really irritating as we kicked off and instead of trying to gain some composure after going 2 down, we immediately gave the ball away and then 2 minutes of piss and panic and Notts make it 3 with a poorly defended goal from Crowley.

As others have stated second half we stepped up a gear, but at the same time I felt Notts also had lowered their energy levels and they were happy to contain us and play more on the break. Shade gave us hope, towering over Nemane to score a header from a lovely Hutton cross. (missed by the Ifollow cameras) Hutton's deliveries were causing problems and FBT really should have scored but headed down and the ball bounced over the bar. Mahoney then made an insanely good double stop (which was from an offside anyway) and whilst we gave it a good go, it just wasn't to be.

This was always going to be a good test, Notts are clearly a good side and in Langstaff, McGoldrick, Bostock, Jones, Crowley etc have a solid set of attacking players. Like us their weakness is at the back and we didn't quite do enough. I think Williams had done his homework pretty well. Kemp, who was always busy never really had the influence he's had in previous games and even things like the FBT burst out of defence was generally pre-read by Crowley. (although he did foul him on more than a couple of occasions) Nemane was giving Uwakwe a torrid time in the first half. I think given the second half, whilst disappointing to lose there were signs of good effort and desire to get back into it. It sounds like a bug had been going around the squad which can't have helped preparation. We're without Young on Saturday and so Charlie is probably going to have to play 90 with RHM with no real option to change, although you could put Kemp up top if needed.

Squad is still looking very thin, we just have to hope we escape October without any injuries/illness.

[Crispy]

Enjoyed that, up the town.

[The Professor]

Agree with most of what has been said. Last night was especially galling as I was sat amongst the Notts faithful in the Derek Pavis stand opposite the away supporters. They were certainly vociferous in their support. I had an especially annoying female supporter seated next to me who believed that everytime a Notts player went down then it must have been a foul and that the Town player deserved a booking or a red card. When a Swindon player went down then it was simulation and he should be booked or red carded!
The game was intense. I couldn't see clearly whether it was a penalty or not so I can't comment.  However, we seemed to be in the ascendancy before the first goal. McGoldrick is still a class act and could do a job in the Championship in my view. The penalty for Notts seemed to be straightforward and cleanly dispatched. That apart didn't think Longstaff looked especially dangerous. Was it him that missed that open goal from a few yards out? The third goal was a well worked move with Crowley unmarked and he slotted it home. I was starting to worry that we'd be dead and buried in the first half but managed not to concede again. Sorry to say but Uwakwe had a game to forget. Notts quickly sussed that knocking the ball past him for Jones to run on to was a productive move and Charlie, try as he might couldn't get anything from the Notts defence. I was surprised by Hutton. I thought he defended better than I believed he could. I was impressed with MacEachran, Khan and Kemp. The defence, despite being under a lot of pressure in the first half but coped sometimes desperately so.
Second half, we were a different side and pretty much dominated. Shade tightened up the left flank and Young offered more mobility in attack and we looked much more threatening. Pity we couldn't have scored more but the Notts defence were putting bodies on the line and kept us out. As said elsewhere, disappointing but not the end of the World. Luke Williams has assembled a good team there with McGoldrick and Bostock the pick of the side.

[adje]

Made a fairly late decision to go to this one. Lots of traffic en route so 2.5 hours drive from Cheshire. Grabbed a swift pint at Beerheadz at the railway station. Scuttled on down to buy a ticket to find one bloke selling and sorting collections, and a steward telling people you couldn't pay by card when you could. Got in the ground to find the only hot food left was veggie pies (it was tasty enough). Got sent down the end because the middle section was full (it definitely wasn't).

And then the game began.

Penalty? Looked nailed on but I was a long way away. Haven't seen a video of it yet.
Goal number 1, Hutton takes a needless risk, Khan loses McGoldrick and we're 1-0 down
Goal number 2, hopeless effort from Uwakwe but their player's absolutely bought it. Never even thought the ref might give it until he blew.
Goal number 3, oh dear. Lost the plot after the pen and got punished.

Bostock and co were dominating the midfield and we were making mistakes at the back. We panicked when they pressed, and Kemp couldn't get any space to work his magic. In that first half, Notts were one of the best sides I've seen us play for a while.

A couple of much needed changes at the break, plus Notts easing off the gas, made for a very different second half. Why did Notts ease off? You could argue it's because they were 3-0 up, but I doubt they could have continued pressing in the same way for 90 minutes anyway.

Shade pops up at the back post with a lovely header and we're back in it. FBT should make it 2-3 but gets it all wrong. A couple of good saves by their keeper from RHM, but it wasn't to be.

A special mention for the officials. Not up there with the memorably bad performances, but multiple questionable decisions. We got caught offside a lot due to Notts County stepping out effectively, but the penalty decisions were poor imo and at one point Kemp was played through having been a yard or two onside and the flag went up. Was kind of glad he hit straight at the keeper.

That said, Notts deserved the win on the night. Plenty of encouragements second half, and I've seen a number of their fans giving us a lot of credit this morning which is refreshing. 1 point off second with a game in hand, so it's important not to lose perspective after one defeat.

That's pretty much how I saw it and a point would not have been ridiculous. In fact I'd say we are very close to them and would not be surprised if we both end up in the top 3.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

I hoped RHM would have a bit of a better night than he did. Another chance on Saturday though. Hopefully the minutes from last night helped, if not he’s in danger of falling into the “better as an impact sub” category.

Looked like last seasons RHM last night, unfortunately.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Facebook group think Drysdale had a good game......

If they told me the sky was blue I'd look out the window to check. Arse and elbows.

[Bob's Orange]

I very rarely comment on referees as they are generally as bad as each other at this level but one thing I did find interesting from last night was how he managed RHM in the second half. It was evident that he was like a coiled spring of frustration and being on a yellow card was close to getting his marching orders. I guess Drysdale had been watching the Rugby World Cup, as at one stage he called over FBT and I assume advised that RHM was on his last warning and told him to calm down. I'm not sure this is in the football referees handbook, but it was an interesting piece of officiating.

[Wobbly Bob]

All of my thoughts from last night.

Meadow Lane- best stadium in the league and everything I would want swindon to have post redevelopment.

Apart from the pillars.
Nice end stand nevertheless.

[Wobbly Bob]

As mentioned, showed them too much respect in first half.
Good effort in 2nd half.

Kinsella was good when he came on.
A pity that over 200 games of experience can't be accommodated in the side at the moment.

Just out of interest, any takers for Matty Palmer on here?
Would he displace any of the current midfield.

[Exiled Bob]

.....When a Swindon player went down then it was simulation and he should be booked or red carded!

Did she say "simulation"? If so, that would have annoyed me more than anything else.

[ChalkyWhiteIsGod]

Apart from the pillars.
Nice end stand nevertheless.

and the lack of boxes.

[adje]

It's basically a first XI and not much else.

Bit harsh. Not saying we don't need a couple but,Ward L,Cain,Kinsella, RHM,Shade,Clayton,Genesini and Minturn is a pretty decent back up group I think