20th April 2024
Notts County vs Colchester United @ Meadow Lane - Nottingham
EFL League Two
15:00 KO
£24 entry (on the gate)
Attendance - 11,037 (756 away fans)
Half-time score: Notts County 0-0 Colchester United
Goal:
Notts County: Langstaff - 54'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Notts County 1-0 Colchester United
The final Col U away game of the season sees them travel up to Notts County, in a game where a win would see them remain in the EFL for the 24/25 season, as would a Sutton United loss. In the reverse fixture, Col U won a frantic 5-4 game, best game I have seen for ages, so I was hoping for something similar, and with Notts County losing at home last weekend 5-2 to Stockport County, it looked like it could be on. Notts County is a ground that has been on my radar for a while, with Notts County being the oldest professional team in the world, going back to 1862! One thing was for sure, for Col U fans, today was going to be a nerve-shredder of an afternoon.
To make the most of the journey, we explored the nearby picturesque town of Newark-on-Trent, having a lovely breakfast and a leisurely stroll through the ancient town, seeing ruined castle walls by the Trent, multiple 500 year plus wooden buildings, the tallest church spire in Nottinghamshire, a bustling open market and even a civil war re-enactment.
It turns out the town was a Royalist stronghold in the English civil war, and survived multiple sieges from Cromwell's forces. All-in-all, really enjoyed the visit to Newark, a real hidden gem and worth another day trip for sure.
From here, we parked the car for £3.50 and got a £8 return ticket from Newark Castle station, into the centre of the Nottingham, with the ground only a 10-15min walk.
Once at Meadow Lane, I grabbed a printed programme for £3, as ever, was super pleased to see Notts County keeping this matchday tradition going, and this one was interesting being full colour but not glossy, probably easier to recycle. I headed to the clubshop to pick up a pin badge then headed into the ground to see the Col U players warm-up.
It was a sunny afternoon, with a bit of a chilly breeze in the air. Into this famous ground, Notts County lined up in their iconic black and white stripes, with Col U reverting to their away yellow strip.
KEY MOMENTS
NC = Notts County
CU = Colchester United
5' - CU - Iandolo wins the ball, drives forward, and seeing Ashby-Hammond off his line and from just over the half-way line, in Beckham-esque fashion tries to lob him, the ball is hit perfectly and floats over the keeper, but he gets a hand to it to divert it into the woodwork, so close to an early opener!
14' - NC - Langstaff is threaded through by Robertson, he is bearing down on goal but a great recovery tackle from Iandolo prevents the shot from coming in.
20' - NC - Nemane attacks down the right, he chips the ball across to the other side of the box to find EFL League Two player of the year, Jodi Jones open, he fires in a powerful left-footed volley but cannot keep it down and it skims off the top of the bar.
24' - NC - A poor pass is intercepted to launch a Notts County attack, as a defender slips over they are in a great position to score, but the effort is headed off the line.
34' - NC - Strong penalty shout for Notts County, Crowley goes down in the box after playing a 1-2 with Jodi Jones, but the referee waves play on. Looked 50/50 to me, but the referee was close to the action.
44' - CU - From the left wing, Richardson crosses the ball into the box, McGeehan gets on the end of it, but his headed effort is straight at Ashby-Hammond, should have done better.
45'+3' - CU - As Col U counter, Robertson yanks McGeehan to the ground inside the box and then falls down on top of him. In the ensuing discussions, he seems to give McGeehan a cheeky slap on the chin, but inexplicably the referee does nothing other than give Robertson, and for some reason McGeehan, a talking too....
52' - NC - Notts County are all over Col U like a rash, efforts come flying in from all angles, the last of which is from Crowley, for it to be heroically blocked by Harbottle.
54' - NC - GOAL (1-0) - From the left, Nemane sees the run of Crowley and threads him down the right of the box, he squares it into EFL League Two top scorer Macauley Langstaff near the penalty spot and he makes no mistake from there, blasting the ball in off the crossbar, giving Hornby no chance.
84' - NC - Jodi Jones is allowed to run through the middle of the Col U defence, he shoots from the edge of the box and his effort is tipped over the bar by Hornby.
87' - CU - Chilvers shot in the box is blocked, it falls to Fevrier whose strike from a narrow angle is saved.
88' - CU - From a rare Col U corner, Harbottle's header hits the outside of the post and skids wide.
90' - CU - Col U get a free-kick in a dangerous position to the right of the box. The ball is knocked to substitute Wilkinson who powers in a low strike into the bottom right corner, it gets through the crowd but Ashby-Hammond gets down to make the save.
Overall, a disappointing performance from the U's in such an important game, a game in which Notts County dominated. In fact, Col U were very lucky that it was only a 1-0 loss, it could easily have been a much heavier defeat! Col U did have their chances which they were unable to convert, but Notts County controlled the pace and tempo of the game for at least 70 minutes of the fixture. Col U were sitting back and looked off the pace, the fixture pile-up from the postponed games seemingly catching up with them. Despite the poor performance, the Col U fans were in fine form and in big numbers, and were singing even after the final whistle, getting behind the team and the managers, with this support we do deserve to stay up. With Crawley Town's late goal again Sutton United, Colchester United just need 1 point from 2 home games to mathematically secure their own safety, but they have to face play-off fighting Doncaster Rovers and Crewe Alexandra, so it is not a done deal by any stretch.....Overall, I enjoyed the trip to Notts County, a proper old school ground and club, would like to re-visit. No more Col U games for me this season, I am hoping next time I go we are still an EFL club, the fans and the county of Essex really do deserve it, UP THE U'S!!!
Line-Ups:
NOTTS COUNTY: Luca Ashby-Hammond, Lewis Macari, Aden Baldwin, Kyle Cameron (C), Scott Robertson, Jim O'Brien, Aaron Nemane, Dan Crowley, Sam Austin, Jodi Jones, Macaulay Langstaff. SUBS: David McGoldrick, Cedwyn Scott, Sam Slocombe, Richard Brindley, Will Randall, Lucien Mahovo, Charlie Colkett.
COLCHESTER UNITED: Sam Hornby, Ellis Iandolo, Connor Hall (C), Riley Harbottle, Jay Mingi, Jayden Richardson, Noah Chilvers, Arthur Read, Jayden Fevrier, Cameron McGeehan, Tom Hopper. SUBS: Conor Wilkinson, John Akinde, Owen Goodman, Fiacre Kelleher, Chay Cooper, Oscar Thorn, Bradley Ihionvien.
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