The hosts even managed to make a mess of kick off, twice it had to be retaken before captain Scott Kerr kindly gave the ball straight to Brendan Moloney. He played the ball to Ben Davies who slid it through to Luke Rodgers who calmly slotted the ball past Rob Burch to score the fastest Football League goal of the season and put Notts infront after just twelve seconds. It was the perfect start to the match for Rodgers, who kept his place upfront alongside Lee Hughes despite missing some gilt-edged chances to open his Notts account against his old side Port Vale at the weekend. Rodgers was mobbed by almost all of his teammates, including goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, save for captain John Thompson and Brendan Moloney who were too busy celebrating with the visiting supporters.
This had clearly got Notts' tails up and they began to monopolise possession, with Ricky Ravenhill seemingly winning the ball back within seconds every single time Notts misplaced a pass, which wasn't very often. Ben Davies had a good chance to double the lead but he fired his free kick from the edge of the box into the wall, much to the relief of Burch. Matt Ritchie also had a pop at goal, latching onto a ball from the impressive Danny Jones and hooking a right footed effort wide of goal. Lincoln were struggling to create anything, although Sergio Torres did look lively in midfield for the Imps and he released Jamie Clarke down the right, but his cross was easily dealt with by Mike Edwards. Lee Hughes had his first sight of goal, blasting an audacious effort well wide from 30 yards.
Then, almost as out of the blue as for the first, Rodgers latched onto another through ball and doubled the lead. Brendan Moloney played the ball forward and Ben Davies allowed it to run through, leaving Rodgers one-on-one with Rob Burch once again. He made no mistake, calmly slotting the ball out of the Lincoln 'keeper's reach to give Notts a lead that they were always likely to go on and claim victory from. This seemed to spark the Imps into life somewhat and Sergio Torres hooked a volley wide of Kasper Schmeichel's post after good work from Jamie Clarke, before Rene Howe pounced on the ball after some confusion in the Notts area but dragged a cross shot well wide of the far post. The first half was to end in controversial circumstances, as Imps defender Moses Swaibu appeared to kick out at Lee Hughes as the pair tussled for the ball. The incident was just infront of the travelling fans, who were incensed by Swaibu's reaction to the Notts forward's challenge, but the referee deemed it only worthy of a yellow card.
The second half was something of a non-event, as the visitors were able to take their foot off the gas and toy with a home side clearly lacking both ideas and confidence. Notts allowed the Imps more possession, but whenever the hosts looked like threatening the Magpies' goal a defender or Ricky Ravenhill appeared out of nowhere to take the ball and initiate another lightning quick Notts counter. Rene Howe did have another effort for Lincoln, climbing high at the far post but misjudging his header horribly and seeing it head off harmlessly wide of the post. Lee Hughes did well to work himself some space on the edge of the box and fire a left footed shot which was well saved by Burch, although he probably should've squared it for Rodgers.
Rodgers didn't have to wait long for a chance to claim his hat-trick however, as he was played through by Johnnie Jackson, but this time the angle was too tight and he could only fire wide. Hughes also had another go, hooking an audacious volley goalwards direct from a Kasper Schmeichel goal kick. The Imps then came the closest that they had all evening as Shane Clarke wasn't closed down quickly enough and saw his long range effort skid goalwards and clip the outside of Schmeichel's post. Notts weren't detered however and Rodgers did go on to claim his hat-trick, picking up a knock down from Luke Rodgers and calmly slotting the ball past Burch before receiving the congratulations of his team-mates. The final act of the match was for Rodgers to be subbed and given a standing ovation by the travelling fans, which was well deserved for a superb show of pace and finishing from the Notts forward.
Notts Co - Schmeichel, Moloney, Thompson, Edwards, Jones, Davies (Bishop), Jackson, Ravenhill, Ritchie (Westcarr), Hughes, Rodgers (Hawley)
Lincoln City 0
Notts County 3 (Rodgers 1, 26, 89)