It's been a pretty good season at Meadow Lane, all things considered, but before last night there was one stat that gave NCM once cause for concern. The Magpies were yet to take three points from any of their rivals in the top seven, which meant a win against Chesterfield would not only be massive in the promotion race and restore a bit of local pride, but would also remove that respective monkey from our back. We have a bit of a treat for this report too, having been highly amused by the bitterness of Chesterfield's official report, so we may stick in a few of their insightful nuggets in an attempt to give the Spireite side of the game. They're worth a cheap laugh, too. We may even quote them directly purely to emphasise the grammatical hopelessness, which is sure to anger some people on the NCM messageboard!
Anyway, whichever way you looked at it, this was a massive point in both clubs' seasons. For Notts, a win would send us above Chesterfield and into 4th place (well, 3rd if Bury lost to Darlington, so 4th), while the visitors' hopes of automatic promotion would've been greatly enhanced by a win at Meadow Lane. Stephen Hunt returned to the line-up for Notts after missing out at Accrington through injury, with the Magpies otherwise unchanged. Bald target man Barry Conlon led the line for the Spireites, with pacy wingers Wade Small and SImon Whalley looking likely to be their main threats. A crowd of over 7,000 were creating an electric atmosphere inside Meadow Lane and the majority were on their feet as the much maligned (entirely unfairly) Craig Westcarr started as he meant to go, leaving Alan Goodall for dead and firing a low ball across the Chesterfield six yard box which was smuggled away by Rob Page.
The visitors got their first effort in on goal as Drew Talbot skipped away and crossed to the far post, where Small was able to get in a header which drifted harmlessly over Kasper Schmeichel's goal. The home crowd were expectant as Lee Hughes won a free kick on the left flank after being hauled to the ground by Dan Gray ("made a meal of it" - CFC). Gray could've been booked for that challenge, so he could have no complaints when he received a yellow for cynically blocking off the run of Luke Rodgers as Notts tried to break. Whaley's pace got him away from Stephen Hunt at the other end, but his end product was lacking (something which became a theme of Chesterfield's night) as he crossed straight into the arms of Schmeichel.
It had been a breathless, end-to-end opening before Notts took the lead in the 22nd minute ("against the run of play" - CFC) as Ben Davies notched yet another goal from midfield. Former Forest captain Ian Breckin played a horrible backpass to Tommy Lee, who sliced the ball into the air under pressure from Hughes. Rather than get it out of play, Goodall decided to hoof it back into the centre of the pitch, where Neal Bishop was able to knock it down to Davies, who chested the ball down before lashing a volley past Lee and into the net. It was a fine strike from the Notts midfielder, who's goalscoring exploits from midfield have been vital for the Magpies this season.
This gave Notts the confidence to pour forward and Rodgers was nearly able to set up a second, with the ball pinballing around the Chesterfield box before falling into the arms of Lee. Meanwhile, a set piece saw Mark Allott slice the ball horribly into the air and back towards his own goal, with Tommy Lee catching the ball before falling into the goal under pressure from Edwards, a free kick being given somewhat unsurprisingly. Ian Breckin decided he fancied a bit of this challenging the 'keeper malarky at the other end, although not when the ball was there to be won. An eternity had passed between Schmeichel catching the ball and Breckin ploughing into him, with the Notts 'keeper unsurpringly upset ("having a hissy fit" - CFC). The referee, demoted former Premiership man Keith Stroud, was hardly endearing himself to the either set of fans by giving a free kick every time two players went anywhere near each other.
In keeping with this, Neal Bishop was booked for a challenge which clearly won the ball infront of the Notts dugout, whilst John Thompson's got away with bringing down Drew Talbot, possibly because the officials realised that they hadn't noticed the ball going about five yards out of play in the build-up. Westcarr did well to find space but sliced his shot over, at which point the Chesterfield report went off on a tangent and decided that our high earners shouldn't be allowed to play for the club as we are over the wage cap. You'd have thought a club's official website would at least have some kind of knowledge of the rules of the Football League, really?
Anyway, Notts kept their lead until half time and came out on the front foot in the second half by winning a couple of corners, both of which were cleared by the home defence. The Spireites had an opening as Small did well to force in a cross, but Mike Edwards did well to deny Conlon space and Schmeichel was able to pounce on the ball. The best passing move of the game saw Notts move the ball from Davies on the left wing to Westcarr, who had drifted inside to leave space for John Thompson to get in behind Goodall. Westcarr perfectly picked him out and he skipped past Page, before hitting a left footed shot which cracked against the base of the post and bounced out. Chesterfield broke and Conlon won just about his first header of the night to set up Wade Small for Chesterfield's best chance of the game, a half volley on the turn from 20 yards that was comfortably saved by Schmeichel ("a sitter" - BBC this time).
Conlon was the latest to be booked by sargeant Stroud (frankly we'd lost count by this point) for careering into Thompson, which was his last act before being replaced by Scott Boden, with Danny Boshell also coming on. Chesterfield tried to take a quick throw in ten yards away from where it was awarded ("the correct spot" - CFC), which wasn't allowed by a referee who hadn't let anything go all night. John Sheridan was clearly not impressed by this and said something which led to Stroud sending the Chesterfield manager to the stand ("dramatic and unnecessary - CFC). The Chesterfield report now decided to look away from the game and at the attire of the referees, which we're reliably informed was "quite fetching".
Tommy Lee had to be alert to save from Luke Rodgers before the Notts striker again skipped through but fired over the bar, whilst Boshell hit a volley from long range that bounced harmlessly wide of Schmeichel's goal. The visitors were now monopolising possession as Notts dropped deeper, but the hosts still looked more likely to score on the break and Davies came close as he forced a Westcarr cross at goal, but Lee did well to turn it around the post. The Spireites forced a corner deep into injury time but, rather hilariously, managed to waste it entirely by taking it shorts. Hughes still had time to get himself in the book for having the ball booted at his hand from around a yard away (an "outrageous" action he could be "fined" for - CFC), but Notts hold on to record a win they just about deserved, having created the clearer openings of two promotion chasing sides.
Notts Co - Schmeichel, Thompson, Lee, Edwards, Hunt, Westcarr (Clapham), Ravenhill, Bishop, Davies, Hughes (Hamshaw), Rodgers (Facey)
Notts Co 1 - (Davies '21)
Chesterfield 0
Attendance - 7,341 (1,519 Spireites)