Daggers put to the sword by Magpies
NOTTS HIT THREE IN FIRST HALF BUT SLOCOMBE IS SENT OFF:
NOTTS County captain Michael Doyle led a heroic Magpies performance last night, taking over as keeper in the first half of a remarkable 3-1 home win against Dagenham & Redbridge.
The Irishman was required to don the gloves after goalkeeper Sam Slocombe was sent off in the 18th minute of this National League clash.
With Notts having no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, Doyle’s first job was to face a penalty after Slocombe saw red for a daft lunge on Darren Mcqueen.
But Paul Mccallum rattled the post with his spot-kick to ensure that Notts protected a 1-0 lead handed to them by Kyle Wootton’s 10th-minute strike.
Against all the odds, Notts incredibly extended their lead through a wonderful effort from Ruben Rodrigues and then Neal Ardley’s side made it 3-0 when Wootton grabbed his second of the game before the break.
However, Doyle showed his catlike reflexes to stop Notts from conceding on the stroke of half-time when he thwarted Mcqueen from point-blank range.
He was eventually beaten late on when Matt Robinson struck in the first minute of added time.
But, overall, Ardley’s side produced an incredible defensive display to claim all three points.
Early on, nobody could have predicted the drama that unfolded as both sides took time to get used to the testing conditions.
Notts did have to clear a corner in the opening minutes, Dion Kellyevans getting the ball away after momentarily losing his bearings inside the area.
Ardley’s side soon began to find their rhythm and a lovely pass from Doyle released Jimmy Knowles, who had Callum Reynolds in hot pursuit.
The striker skipped past Reynolds’ weak tackle but his drive to the near post was kept out by keeper Elliot Justham before it was hacked clear.
The Magpies’ pressure was eventually rewarded with the breakthrough in the 10th minute, when a peach of a cross from Rodrigues picked out Knowles at the back post.
Knowles’ header was kept out by an instinctive save but as the ball came back into the box there was Wootton to stab in the rebound.
With confidence rising, Notts were soon on the attack again and a lovely move ended with Enzio Boldewijn finding Jake Reeves on the edge of the box.
The midfielder took a touch but watched his effort fizz by the post before Knowles forced a save from Justham at the near post.
But, just as Notts were taking control, they suffered a huge blow when Slocombe was sent off. A poor touch by the keeper after receiving Connell Rawlinson’s pass ended with him lunging into a tackle on Mcqueen.
The referee showed red and pointed to the spot. Doyle took over between the posts and watched as Mccallum’s penalty hit the foot of the post.
Ardley knew his side would need to offer their skipper strong protection if they were to avoid conceding but, against all the odds, they doubled their lead with a wonderful goal.
Rodrigues picked the ball up on the edge of the box and skipped past several challenges, moving to the edge of the penalty area.
Space opened up before him but instead of carrying on into the area, he let fly from the edge of the box, his fierce strike fizzing past Justham for one of the goals of the season.
And Notts had more breathing space when Wootton scored his second in the third minute of first-half stoppage time, curling in a fine effort.
But before half-time, Doyle came to the Magpies rescue when he produced a terrific save from pointblank range to deny Mcqueen.
Ardley did not make any changes at half-time but would have wanted the same level of energy and commitment as the Magpies looked to protect their lead.
Rather than sit back, Notts had a glorious chance to make it four when a superb pass from Rodrigues put Boldewjn through on goal.
The winger gave the goalkeeper the slip and rolled a pass into the feet of Wootton.
Although he had time to pick his spot from 12 yards, Wootton blazed high and into the Kop.
Knowles then scampered into the box after a fine pass from Rodrigues and he tried to bend his shot into the far corner but he watched as it flew over the bar.
Notts were playing some exceptional football on the counter-attack, with Rodrigues at the heart of it. The Portuguese playmaker weaved his way into the box only for Justham to save at the near post.
Dagenham soon began to make their presence felt in attack as Mccallum headed wide before Dean Rance followed suit as they attempted to test Doyle’s reflexes.
Rawlinson then epitomised Notts’ resilience when he made a headed clearance and, as the ball fell to Luke Croll, the Notts defender raced out to make a thunderous challenge and win huge applause from his teammates.
However, Notts did lose their clean sheet when Robinson struck from distance at the end but it was not enough to take the shine off a remarkable performance by the 10-man Magpies.