Like a snowball tumbling down the side of a mountain,
As I arrived at the ground before kick off, I heard the words of Colin Slater that stated the importance of a good cup run and how it can boost morale amongst the Notts ranks.
No sooner were the Notts faithful taking their seats had Simon Baldry opened the scoring for the Magpies when he popped up at the back post to slot home from the right-side of the six-yard-box after just 2 minutes.
Soon after, Mark Stallard tried his luck but his shot hardly managed to even sting the palms of
The game was already alive and well when Steve Jenkins lunged in with a clumsy challenge on Dean Bowditch in a crucial area of the pitch. The resulting penalty was powered home by Pablo Counago as he sent Stephen Mildenhall the wrong way after 5 minutes.
After the early stages of the game following the pattern that has emerged in which Notts drew first blood only to allow their opponents to equalise minutes later. However, clearly not content by sticking to the trend Mark Stallard was upended by Francis Wilnis – a penalty that was inevitably scored by the man we affectionately call ‘Stal’ after just 9 minutes.
After a frantic first ten minutes, the game quietened down and it took until the 28th minute before Nick Fenton rose above the rest to nod wide a Darren Caskey free kick-cum-cross.
Joe Royle, who looked to be having kittens on the touchline, brought on Alan Mahon to replace the injured, Matthew Bloomfield.
Nick Fenton, who was influential throughout tonight’s game, brought Ian Westlake’s progressive run to an end when he was floored whilst in full flight on the stroke of half time.
HALF TIME: NOTTS COUNTY 2-1 Ipswich Town
Soon after the interval, the nerves of the Notts fans were frayed once more when an in-swinging corner forced Nick Fenton to head a hasty clearance back out of play, in which the resulting corner was plucked from the sky by Notts goalkeeper, Stephen Mildenhall.
Joe Royle’s frustrations surfaced once again when he withdrew Matthew Richards in place of Alun Armstrong as he tried to urge his side forward.
However, it was obvious to pretty much everyone one of the crowd inside Meadow Lane that Ipswich, in the absence of namesakes Marcus [Leicester – loan] and Darren Bent [not selected], lacked that certain element in the final third of the field.
After 54 minutes, Tony Barras was forced to clear a Pablo Counago effort from the edge of the 18-yard box, before Stephen Mildenhall could save a Fabian Wilnis drive.
With all the time in the world, Clive Platt managed to place an effort straight into the waiting arms of Davis.
Simon Baldry found himself in a very similar position after he worked his way into the Ipswich penalty area, only to see the Ipswich ‘keeper palm his shot wide of the post on 62 minutes.
Ipswich made their final substitution of the contest when Sam Morrow was introduced in place of Dean Bowditch.
Not wanting to be out-done in that respect introduced Paul Riley to the fray as captain, Steve Jenkins made way. Before 10 minutes later, Paul Heffernan made his return for the Magpies after serving a 3-match-suspension for his sending off some weeks ago as he stepped into the position Clive Platt had occupied throughout the match.
Two minutes in the three added on for stoppages, a moment of madness from Ipswich shot-stopper, Kelvin Davis saw the ball fall kindly to Ian Baraclough with a chance to fire home from 35-yards plus to seal the tie – only for the shot to drop narrowly over the cross-bar.
FULL TIME: NOTTS COUNTY 2-1 Ipswich Town]
With the draw for the THIRD ROUND [sounds good doesn’t it?] being held at 5pm this Saturday on BBC Radio Nottingham, it only leaves me with one thing to say – BRING ON THE F*REST!!!