Notts County 0 - 0 Stoke City - Final Score

Last updated : 16 February 2002 By
Hackworth started promisingly with a turn and shot in the first few seconds but the ball went wide.

Seconds later Mike Flynn managed to get on the end of the free-kick but his header was easily held by Stuart Garden.

Stoke won the first corner after four minutes but it was cleared after some hesitation in the Notts defence.

Danny Allsopp won a free-kick, 35 yards out but the Stoke keeper easily saved Darren Caskey's effort.

Mike Flynn's long throws were causing all sorts of problems in the Notts defence as the defence continued to look hesitant.

After a scrappy phase of play Notts won a free-kick near the corner flag. Caskey's cross was met by Cas in space but his header was saved by a diving Cutler.

A minute later Notts won another free-kick in a similar position. Caskey lined up the cross but Craig Ireland was penalised for pushing in the Stoke area.

After 18 minutes Bolland failed to clear the ball and a Stoke cross was met by Andy Cook but his firm header hit the Notts County bar. Finally some luck for the Pies.

A great ball by Paul Bolland found Richard Liburd in so space but Danny Allsopp was unable to get on the end of his pass.

As the game passed the half-hour mark Notts managed to create three great chances in less than five minutes with Tony Hackworth being influential in all three.

First a great move by Notts culminated in a Marcel Cas cross which went over the head of Danny Allsopp. Tony Hackworth collected and his pass gave Darren Caskey a great chance but the midfielder was unable to put in a decent shot.

A minute later Hackworth collected an Allsopp flick-on but his firm shot was wide of the target.

Then a great ball by Hackworth was met by Richard Liburd whose firm shot hit both the bar and the post before being cleared by the Stoke defence.

The influential Hackworth and Liburd continued to combine well but with half-time approaching Notts needed to make their constant pressure count.

Half-Time: Notts County 0 - 0 Stoke City

Yet another good 45 minutes by Notts but no reward. We can only hope that going forward the Magpies can avoid the defensive errors that have marred the entire season.

Hackworth and Liburd have been the influential players for County with Cas and Allsopp's pace also causing problems.

The second-half started brightly. Within seconds of the re-start Cas played Hackworth in and his excellent ball put Allsopp in with a great chance. The Aussie striker could hardly miss but he did, scooping the ball wide.

Warren put in an excellent tackle as Cook almost managed to break free of the Notts defence. The resulting corner was cleared by Allsopp.

Notts could have been 4-0 up by now but Stoke were starting to put passes together and their pace was testing the County defenders.

A rare cry of "County" echoed around the ground as the outnumbered Magpie fans got behind their team.

Substitution - Iwelumo for Vandereuzen

On the hour a great header by Allsopp was deflected wide as it looked goalbound. Cutler easily collected the resulting corner.

Two minutes later Garden made his first save tipping over Shtaniuk's header from a Stoke corner.

(Latest FA Cup score, Arsenal 2, Gillingham 2).

The a typical defensive error almost let Stoke in. Warren let the ball run towards Garden but the keeper did not come for the ball and a Stoke striker was able to nip in but the referee pulled play back as his shot hit the post.

Soon after O'Connor put a shot in to the side-netting after Darren Caskey lost possession in midfield.

(Score flash: Bury 2 - 2 Cambridge, Wigan 3 - 0 Cardiff)

Stoke continued to look the more dangerous of the two sides as the County defence began to run out of steam. The Potters won another corner making the corner count 7 to 1 in their favour.

(Latest FA Cup score, Arsenal 3, Gillingham 2).

The pacy Allsopp was set free by Tony Hackworth but Handyside managed to cut out his cross with three Notts players available in the area.

Substitution: Owers for Caskey,
Substitution: Thordarson for Goodfellow


Stoke continued to throw men forward and Garden saved well from Cook deflecting a firm shot for a corner.

Garden was again forced to make an excellent save as O'Connor made space for himself and fired the ball towards the corner of the County net.

A quick break by Notts led to a chance for Cas but he was tackled as the Magpies won their second corner.

A Stoke attack ended as Cook's cross tried to find Iwolumo. But the big striker bundled over the Notts County keeper as he rose to meet the ball.

A Baraclough pass was flicked on by Allsopp but Cas's volley from a tight angle was put and it floated over the bar. Another dangerous cross was cleared for a corner by Cas of Thordarson looked likely to meet it with a free header.

Stoke won corner after corner as Stoke piled on late pressure.

However, a brilliant counter attack by Hackworth and Allsopp forced keeper Cutler in to a save.

Stoke continued to dominate the game as Notts tried to hang on for the draw. Eventually the pressure was relieved as the Magpies won a goal-kick.

Substition: Stallard for Allsopp.

Notts threw the injured Mark Stallard in to the fray with minutes left. The striker had an immediate effect holding up the ball and almost creating a chance for Hackworth.

Stallard then found Liburd who's run and cross almost created an opening.

Cas won a free-kick on the edge of the area as a defender handled the ball. With Caskey off the field the ball was fired in to the wall by Baraclough and the follow up was chipped wide by Gary Owers.

The game was there for the taking as the clock ticked past 90 minutes with 3 minutes of injury time to be played.

(Scoreflash: Burnley 1 - 1 F****t)

Stke won a free-kick in a dangerous position and Garden eventually collected the ball after initially punching it straight up in the air.

Warren was fouled by Cook as the Stoke striker claimed that he should have been given a penalty.

Final Score: Notts County 0 - 0 Stoke City

(Score flash: Arsenal 5 - 2 Gillingham, Wigan 4 - 0 Cardiff)

There was good news for Notts today. Not only did they again play well against one of the top teams in the division but they managed to win their first point in seven games.

With better finishing Notts could have been 4-0 up by half-time.

And there was more good news as Bournemouth, Bury, Oldham and Cambridge all failed to win.