MAGPIES IN THE MOOD FOR A RUN TO WEMBLEY

GOALS from Connell Rawlinson and sub Kyle Wootton, either side of red card for Wes Thomas, sealed victory for 10-man Notts County against a rather jaded Yeovil Town at Huish Park.

The Magpies, playing in the first ever FA Trophy campaign, were good value for their victory but had to fend off a late surge from the home side after Courtney Duffus had pulled a goal back 14 minutes from time.

Indeed, County were actually forced to play the last 20 minutes with only nine men when Damien McCrory was forced off with a knee injury and boss Neal Ardley had already used his subs.

“The first 20 minutes was really open,” said Ardley. “They’re very brave and you can see how many goals they’ve scored in the league. They bomb people forward and they make runs and we got a bit scratched.

“But we took the lead and rode our luck a little bit. We won the game today with sheer heart, guts, incredible energy and fitness. The boys put their bodies on the line.

“I hope the fans that made the effort to come are really proud of what they’ve seen. That was a group of lads who have given everything for the shirt.”

Tempers spilled over on several occasions, with referee Thomas Parsons handing out five yellow cards, three to Yeovil and two to Notts, while sending off Thomas for a raised arm in the face of Luke Wilkinson just before half-time.

“I think you could claim it’s a red,” Ardley continued. “Wes’ trailing arm caught him in the face and he made the most of it like most players do.

“In the end, the game got overtaken by three officials. I think he lost control of the game.”

For Yeovil, poor defending led to Rawlinson’s seventh-minute opener when they failed to deal with a Krystian Dennis cross to the far post and the defender knocked it into the net.

They made their man advantage count in terms of possession in the second half, but failed to turn it into a goal and were punished when Myles Hippolyte gave the ball away cheaply and Jim O’Brien cut it back for Wootton to slam in the second.

Duffus pulled one back with his first touch after coming on and Wilkinson hit the crossbar late on, but the equaliser proved elusive.

“Let’s make no bones about it, the two goals that we concede are very poor. And some of the finishing wasn’t great,” said Yeovil boss Darren Sarll.

“Nobody likes to get beat but I’m not furious with them today. I’m furious with the two goals and they are the moments that decide goals.

“We played well against their 11, their 10 and their nine. All that was missing was that last touch and sometimes it escapes you.”