Magpies fight back but Sheri is ‘gutted’

NOTTS County boss John Sheridan admitted he was “gutted” not to have beaten Grimsby Town after seeing his side come back from the dead to earn a draw.

The Magpies were 2-0 down after 60 minutes as Shaun Pearson’s header crept in before Omar Bogle took advantage of a poor back pass from Stanley Aborah to put the visitors in command.

But in the third successive league game, Notts came back to rescue a result helped by a triple substitution.

Vadaine Oliver was unplayable in his 30-minute cameo and teed up Jonathan Forte for the first goal on 77 minutes, before winning a penalty that Michael O’Connor slammed against the post.

But they earned a point in the 89th minute when Oliver chested into the path of debutant Aaron Collins who slammed in, leaving Sheridan to wonder what might have been.

“We were a bit flat in the first half – I didn’t think we were at the races,” he said.

“Full credit to Grimsby for that because I thought they were on the front foot a lot more than we were.

“They were picking things up a lot quicker and unfortunately we went a goal down.

“The two lads up front were a real handful and we couldn’t deal with it.

“However, we started the second half really well and got on top before giving away a shambolic goal.

“You think at 2-0 down it’s a mountain to climb, but we responded really, really, well.

“The substitutes came on and changed the game. We peppered them and got them on the back foot.

“In the end I am gutted we have not won the game. The fans appreciated how we tried to get back into the game so full respect to them.”

Grimsby boss Paul Hurst was disappointed to see a twogoal lead slip, but in the end accepted the first away point of the season.

“They are a good team and I expect them to be at the top end of the league at the end of the season,” he said.

“It’s the first away point of the season in front of a fantastic following, but I do have mixed emotions having been 2-0 up.

“We got away with the penalty which they missed to make it 2-2, but in the end we couldn’t quite hold on.

“But going forward we are a threat and we gave them real problems. I thought we would score a second goal and that proved to be the case.

“We just couldn’t keep it out at the other end of the pitch.”