Late Equaliser Sinks Disappointing Notts

Last updated : 14 March 2004 By Asher Levin
Notts produced their worst display yet under Gary Mills and only really got away with such an abysmal display because they were up against the worst side in the Division.

Ultra defensive, backs to the wall

Those are the two words, which I would use to sum up yesterday’s match. A match, which showed Notts to have two completely different identities.

The first half saw a Notts side which were a bit insecure at the back, but looked quite effective going forward. With some nice crisp passing and having two people upfront, it meant Notts were able to have bodies around the opposition area. This, however, was the complete opposite in the second half. This will be discussed later.

Notts started the game quite brightly in an end-to-end first half, packed with opportunities for both teams.

Notts started the game kicking off towards the away fans in their traditional black and white strip. The partnership of Oakes and Caskey in midfield started off quite brightly with some nice passing which involved our wingers Baldry and Bolland.

Heffernan- Fired Notts in front
However, it was Wycombe who looked dangerous at first with Currie (whom pulled the strings throughout the game), whipping in some dangerous balls from the left hand side.

New on-loan keeper Pegguy Arphexad started off quite nervously and spilled the first cross he had to face. This however was immediately cleared by Notts who in turn looked very effective on the break.

Notts started to pile up the pressure and the Wycombe defence were looking shaky and clueless.

Notts took advantage of poor Wycombe defending which saw Paul Heffernan break through and strike the post. People within the away end were absolutely gutted but could sense that a goal was on the horizon. Well, we did not have long to wait.

The Paul Heffernan chant had only started to ring around the stadium when he was released through yet again, this time he was not going to miss. He absolutely smashed the ball past the keeper after being released by an excellent Simon Baldry flick-on.

It was a cracking finish and the Notts fans felt another goal was needed. However, Gary Mills had a different agenda. He decided to move Tony Scully back into midfield so Notts played 5 across the middle, with Heffernan upfront by himself. This was a big changing point in the game. No longer was the match end to end, but instead, it turned into a one-way affair. Chances came about very quickly for Wycombe, who had a cross eventually cleared off the line.

It was true to say that the referee, who was dire, did not help us today. However, we did not make matters good for ourselves. When Bolland fouled Craig Faulconbridge, Caskey picked up an unnecessary yellow card by kicking the ball away. In fact, the midfielder was extremely lucky to stay on the pitch as he committed another foul after that which could have easily ended up with a booking.

After many corners in the first half, most of which were taken by Stefan Oakes, it was fair to say that they were all extremely ineffective & ended up with every single one not being able to beat the first defender. With our set pieces within the first half as well, I can only highlight the same point again, as Oakes floated every ball towards the keeper, whom of which every single time beat the lonely Heffernan to the ball in the air.

Notts however finished the half on a high, with an excellent move, which started with patient passing and ended up with Caskey playing a great through ball to Heffernan.

Half Time: Wycombe 0-1 Notts County

However, the second half was a completely different story. One of which I do not care to go into too much detail as it was all one sided.

Mills- Got it Wrong
Notts came out a completely different and negative side. Every pass we made seemed to be a long ball, yet there was only one striker upfront. Every attack we had was predictable, with Baldry beating about 6 players and still having to wait for other players to get near him to offer their support.

This was a constant factor, which meant that we never kept the ball within the Wycombe half for more than a minute.

Our midfield had completely dissolved with Caskey looking unfit and ineffective, whilst Oakes was speeding up his play a little more, but
was playing far too deep. No one picked up on Wycombe’s only danger man, Darren Currie, who was a constant thorn in our side.

Our defence was put under constant pressure. Every time they cleared the ball, we were yet again under attack, as Heffernan was our only front man, and our midfield was to slow in supporting him.

Arphexad pulled of a potential match winning save, however he made a huge howler for the Wycombe goal. He, however, cannot be blamed alone. There were too many players messing with the ball around our own area, which in the end did cost us the game.

Arphexad- Dropped a clanger
Gary Mills, for the first time, can share a lot of the blame.

For 45 minutes of the 2nd half we looked like conceding a goal. We were extremely lucky not to, as Wycombe missed one open goal, had one fantastic save by our keeper and had one cleared off the line. So why did Mills wait around 10 minutes after they scored to make changes?

When Wycombe equalised, our second half tactics and performance was highlighted for all too see. On every attack we made, we had no one upfront. It was as simple as that. When we got the ball out to Baldry or Scully on the wing, there was no body in the middle to finish of the chance.

When the changes were made, Notts looked like a different side. Frazer McHugh- on for Caskey- had a cracking shot on goal after a great run and looked effective, whilst Scoffham won a ball he should never have won after heavy chasing, he beat one defender, was pulled back but shrugged him off, he then rounded the keeper and then was taken out by the keeper for a clear penalty, which the in-competent referee ignored.

When the final whistle was blown I was glad. We were lucky in the end to come away with a point.

To summarise, we should never have gone ultra defensive. Wycombe's defence was shaky and no good at all, and- if we pilled enough pressure on them- they would have cracked, like they were starting to do in the first half. Instead we went ultra defensive and put enormous pressure on our defence and keeper.

One's thing's for sure, t
hings have to change if we are to get 3 points at Rushden!!

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