Notts surrendered their unbeaten record in the league at home this afternoon against Accrington Stanley. Notts were unchanged from the side that worked and harried so well last week against the Bulls. In truth Notts didn't deserve the three points this afternoon and you'd be hard pushed to find a reason why Accrington did.
It was reminiscent of performances earlier in the season away from home against Morecambe and Rochdale. Notts struggled to find passes and Edwards in particular was the culprit of some horrendous distribution. The game started as it went on; a scrappy affair between two sides who seemed to think the ball was a hot potato. If the Bury v Notts game was everything a League Two game should be - this was everything it shouldn't be. Notts' battlers in midfield Bishop and Ravenhill couldn't get a stranglehold and very rarely won the ball and spread it anywhere meaningful. Meanwhile, Davies and Westcarr struggled to create chances from the wing and a Westcarr cross midway through the first half which Hughes headed agonisingly wide was one of few chances Notts created. Hughes had another chance in the first half which he could have done better with as he raced onto a through ball he could only shoot at the Stanley keeper - who gratefully saved with his legs. Accrington were limited to shots from distance which flashed across the face of goal and never really trouble Kasper Schmeichel.
The second half began a little better but before Notts could settle into a rhythm they were 1-0 down as a through ball found its way past Edwards & Lee to the feet of Symes who kept his composure to round Schmeichel and put the ball into an empty net. Notts had one more chance before Stanley doubled their lead as a ball over the top was misjudged by the Stanley centre half but unfortunately Hughes could only blaze his shot over the bar from a tight angle. Stanley broke away but this time Schmeichel was equal to the shot but as the Notts defence stood still the ball was played across the box for James Ryan to blast Accrington into a two goal lead. 8 minutes later a long ball over the top found Hawley running clear but instead of bringing the ball down and taking a shot he let it run and found himself too far wide to get a shot off but as Ritchie crossed the ball it richocheted off Tom Lees arm and a penalty was awarded (no doubt much to Hawley's relief). Hughes stepped up and placed it just off centre to pull one back for the Magpies. There was controversy to follow as Graeme Lee was adjudged to have fouled Michael Proctor in the box, just three minutes later much to the players and fans fury. As at Hereford last week - the Notts keeper Schmeichel was equal to it saving this time with his legs. Justice had been served.
7 minutes of injury time was added on and Notts had chanes to take a share of the spoils. First, Hawley whose turn and shot inside the box fell too close to the keeper. Followed by Hughes' header which was unlucky to fall wide and Ritchie had a decent shot right at the death but couldn't beat the Accrington keeper Bouzanis as he dived off towards his right. The final whistle was met with a mixture of boos and frustrated sighs by the disgrunted Notts faithful, who had just witnessed an all too familiar home performance in recent years. The lack of cutting edge, urgency and tempo was Notts' downfall just as it was against Aldershot.
Notts are next in action a week on Monday against Bournemouth - this game is live on Sky Sports.