STUNNING MAGPIES COMEBACK
NOTTS County somehow preserved their unbeaten record in League Two and manager Kevin Nolan was impressed by the way his team didn’t panic when they found themselves 3-0 down.
The Magpies were seemingly out of it with 16 minutes remaining as a classy finish from Uche Ikpeazu and two strikes from Jevani Brown gave the U’s their first away goals in 700 minutes of football.
But Lewis Alessandra leapt off the bench to make it 3-1 before Shaun Brisley chipped in with three minutes remaining.
And it was substitute Jonathan Forte who finally sent Meadow Lane into a frenzy when he turned in from close range to leave boss Nolan delighted with his side’s character.
“I don’t think we deserved to be 30 down at any point in the game, but Cambridge finished every one of their goals really, really, well,” he said.
“They were all lovely clean strikes and I don’t think my goalkeeper or my lads were at fault for them.
“So at 3-0 down, you are thinking what can you do to get back into the game.
“I just thought a lot of things we did on the training ground in terms of not rushing things really came to the fore.
“That’s why I am so proud of my lads because at 3-0 down you didn’t see anybody putting their hands on their hips and giving up.
“They stuck together and they showed incredible spirit.”
Ikpeazu put the U’s ahead five minutes before half-time when he curled in an unstoppable effort from just inside the box.
And then Brown doubled the lead four minutes after the break when he smashed in via the inside of the post after Notts failed to clear a corner.
He then hammered in a second when he latched onto an Ikpeazu touch from a long throw to leave United seemingly in dreamland.
But Alessandra headed in Dan Jones’ cross at the near post, before Brisley saw a shot loop over goalkeeper David Forde.
And it was left to Forte to seal the comeback when he cleverly flicked into the corner despite having his back to goal.
Despite having lost a three-goal lead, Derry said the performance bodes well for the weeks ahead. “My overriding emotion was that I was proud of the team,” he said. “But there was a ten-minute feeling of disappointment. I was pleased to be involved in a proper game. “We scored three great goals and in terms of the performance levels of late, in my eyes, they have been pretty decent. “But that will give us great hope going forward. Everybody thought this game was a banker for Notts County and it wasn’t.”