How it all pans out in the NL

spirit and character – the Crazy Gang defied the odds every week for two decades – and is putting the pieces back together under the ownership of two Danish brothers who own a football data company.

Of course, the starkest statistic in football is the scoreline. And it didn’t need an army of boffins to point out that this – the Magpies’ fourth National League victory on the trot – was thoroughly deserved.

Kristian Dennis’ cross was nodded home on the quarter-hour by Kyle Wootton to set the ball rolling for Notts County.

Three goals in a 15-minute burst early in the second-half ended the contest, Dennis nodding the second from Cal Roberts’ neat play.

Wootton sidefooted a third before Roberts rounded off a satisfactory afternoon from the edge of the area.

They are scything through the competition at the moment. Narrowing the gap on leaders Barrow to seven points made it a good weekend.

Exciting times. But strange ones all the same.

NATIONAL LEAGUE champions win automatic promotion to League Two.

The next six teams fight it out for one final promotion spot with two eliminator matches – involving teams finishing fourth and fifth hosting the seventh and sixth clubs.

The winners of these matches then move into the semi-finals against the second and third placed teams before a Wembley final that decides the second promotion spot to the EFL.

The bottom four teams are relegated to either the Conference North or Conference South divisions as appropriate.