The visitors started on top however with Notts looking lethargic in the September sun. Kasper Schmeichel twice had to be alert to clear from the edge of his area before Meadow Lane was stunned into silence as the Cobblers took the lead in the simplest fashion. Ryan Gilligan's long throw was flicked on by Steve Guinan as Schmeichel tried to claim it and Alex Dyer arrived with the simple task of poking it over the line. The Notts defence looked shell shocked and it was a few minutes before the hosts regained their composure with passes going astray and John Thompson being booked for a robust 50/50 challenge and Karl Hawley also going in the referee's notebook.
Out of nowhere Notts managed to get level however to lift a lot of the anxiety that was growing around Meadow Lane. Brendan Moloney broke away down the right and did brilliantly to flick the ball around two defenders before swinging in a teasing left footed cross to the far post. Debutant Northampton 'keeper Simon Brown was glued to his line and the smallest player on the pitch, Matt Ritchie, arrived to head the ball into the net to get his first goal for the club. This seemed to calm Notts down and the ball started pinging around the Magpies' midfield with accuracy, with Northampton having very little possession for a long period of play.
Mike Edwards headed over the bar from a corner when it seemed like he should've hit the back of the net, whilst Ben Davies was delivering a series of dangerous crosses from the right wing with Lee Hughes and Karl Hawley both eager to get on the end of one and extend the lead. Hughes managed to get his head on a deep cross by Johnnie Jackson but the ball flashed over the bar, whilst Matt Ritchie saw his fine effort from twenty five yards flash narrowly wide of the bar. Just as it seemed half-time was on the horizon however Notts got the breakthrough. John Curtis was booked for a foul just inside the Northampton half and Ben Davies took the chance to notch yet another set piece assist, swinging in a ball which Lee Hughes managed to poke past the static Northampton 'keeper. After this the Magpies didn't really want half time to come around, but Ian McParland will have been delighted with the reaction of his players after a shaky first fifteen minutes.
Notts started the second half at the same pace they had ended the first and Hughes had a penalty appeal turned down when he had got the wrong side of Chris McCready. Karl Hawley came close to doubling the lead but his shot from just outside the area flashed narrowly over the bar and Ritchie's far post cross was inches away from allowing Hughes to head home his second goal. Having shown no attacking threat at all since their goal Sampson made his first subtitution as Town manager, replacing the ineffectual Billy McKay with Adebayo Akinfenwa and pushing two upfront. County were threatening the third goal to kill the game off all half and it came around the hour mark with Hughes on target again. Karl Hawley wriggled free in the box and was able to dig out a cross to the far post where Hughes was completely unmarked to head home his sixth league goal of the season.
Notts now seemed rampant and added a fourth just minutes after, with Matt Ritchie getting his second goal of the afternoon. The ball broke kindly on the edge of the box for the left winger and he lashed a low shot past Simon Brown, via a slight deflection of a Northampton defender. The game was now as good as over and notts were toying with the visitors, stroking the ball around midfield with a swagger reminiscent of the opening day victory over Bradford City. The visitors brought on Robbie Threlfall for ineffectual winger Ben Marshall but this couldn't stem the side as Notts tried to bundle the ball in for a fifth, with the hapless Brown being saved by the referee's whistle. It seemed a matter of time before the fifth and this proved to be the case, with Karl Hawley breaking free behind the defence before being hauled down before pulling the trigger. It was a blatant penalty and, being the last man, Northampton defender Chris McCready received the red card despite being in a crumpled heap on the floor. Lee Hughes sealed his second hat-trick of the season with a confident penalty, blasting the ball down the middle with Brown diving out of the way.
This signalled two changes for the hosts, with Hughes and Hawley going off to a standing ovation to be replaced by Luke Rodgers and Delroy Facey, for his first start of the season. Facey appeared to get Notts' sixth shortly after but, having put the ball in the net, was penalised for a hand ball and given a yellow card. Some gloss was taken off the Notts victory as Andy Holt collected a long ball and cut inside to lash a shot past Kasper Schmeichel and into the net, but it was only ever going to be a consollation. Ben Davies fired a low shot straight at Brown to complete the action as Notts ran out comfortable 5-2 winners. In truth, the three goal margin of victory flattered Northampton greatly and Notts seemed able to carve out chances and score goals at will, which bodes well for next week's trip to Morecambe.
Notts Co - Schmeichel, Moloney, Thompson, Edwards, Clapham, Davies, Bishop, Jackson, Ritchie (Westcarr), Hughes (Facey), Hawley (Rodgers)
Notts Co 5 (Ritchie '23, 65, Hughes '44, '61, pen '75)
Northampton Town 2 (Dyer '11, McCready S/O '74, Holt '89)
Attendance - 7,154 (941 Visitors)