Tuesday's League Two match between Notts County and Darlington always looked like being a bit of a mismatch, what with Darlington's cobbled together squad and truly horrendous away record and Notts' comparative riches. No one could have seen just how much of a routine three points Hans Backe's side were to pick up against a side in genuine danger of becoming the worst fourth division side ever, though. The Magpies once again made changes to the side which dumped Bournemouth out of the FA Cup on Saturday, although they were mostly enforced. Neal Bishop and Johnnie Jackson had both picked up knocks and were ruled out of the match, with Notts going 4-4-2 and Saturday's man of the match Matt Ritchie returning alongside Luke Rodgers. Meanwhile at the back, Brendan Moloney returned for Mike Edwards, with John Thompson switching to centre back duties. For the visitors, Steve Staunton's constantly changing squad saw Steve Foster dropped due to contractual wranglings while Chesterfield loan duo Danny Hall and Paul Harsley made their debuts.

The match started as it meant to go on, with Notts calmly stroking the ball around the Darlington half waiting for an opening. They had the ball in the net almost immediately as a neat move saw Brendan Moloney pick up the ball and swing in a delightful cross that Luke Rodgers volleyed past Ashlee Jones and into the bottom corner. Rodgers was adjudged offside, but didn't have to wait long to open the scoring. Notts again carved Darlington open with incisive passing and Lee Hughes was allowed to turn and lob a clever ball over the defence to set Rodgers clear and the Notts frontman made no mistake, taking a touch past the 'keeper and rolling the ball into the empty net to give Notts the lead. If this was cause for pessimism amongst the travelling Quakers, it was to get worse as their side squandered possession almost immediately from kick off.

Ricky Ravenhill stole the ball in midfield and played it to Davies who spotted Craig Westcarr completely unmarked on the right wing. Westcarr took his time to measure a cross to the far post which found Hughes completely unmarked and he headed past the helpless Jones to double the lead and make the rest of the game look like a formality. Notts were threatening to put a precarious visiting defence to the sword and Matt Ritchie nearly got on the scoresheet, but he sliced a volley just wide from the edge of the box. The third wasn't going to take long though as the Darlington defence once again parted like, without wanting to be cliché, the Red Sea. This time it came from a Darlington corner as the woeful delivery was cleared, sliced in the air by a defender allowing Hughes to head the pacy Rodgers clear of the defence. He weighed up his options and decided to square it to Ben Davies who had the simple task of sliding the ball beyond Jones to completely end the game as a contest, leading to a slightly less exciting 70 minutes afterwards.

Notts still looked likely to add more though and Matt Ritchie was guilty of a glaring miss on the half hour. Some more comical defending saw Davies play a perfectly weighted through ball to Ritchie, who was clean through without a defender in sight. A heavy touch saw the ball run away from him though and in the end he neither rounded the 'keeper not had a shot and just sort of ran into him. After this let off Darlington finally registered an effort on goal and Mor Diop was left cursing Kasper Schmeichel as the Dane kept Darlington at bay with a world class save. Some poor defending by Graeme Lee let Diop in and he seemed to have stroked the ball into the far corner, only for Schmeichel to push it past the post with his fingertips.

This wrapped up a first half in which Notts had all but secured their first three points under Hans Backe, but he will have been frustrated with the ease that Danny Hall was allowed to find space in the box, but the debutant could only direct his header over the bar. Hughes should've doubled his tally soon after as Ashlee Jones presented him with a golden chance. Luke Rodgers' tame cross was fumbled by Jones to the far post where it seemed certain Hughes would score, but the ball took an age to come down for the division's leading scorer and Jones was able to redeem himself with a fine save from Hughes' powerful strike. From the corner that followed Hughes was nearly on the scoresheet again as he headed Davies' inswinging delivery inches wide of the near post with Jones rooted to the spot.

Schmeichel was probably getting bored in the home goal and some action will have done him good in the biting cold at Meadow Lane and he got some as Jeff Smith and Paul Harsley forced him into routine saves with speculative efforts. Substitute Karl Hawley was then guilty of a miss to rival Ritchie's when he collected Jamie Clapham's pass and spun his marker to have a clear strike at goal from six yards, but probably surprised by the ease with which he found space, he dragged his shot over the bar. Notts did add a deserved fourth though as substitute Matt Hamshaw played a delightful lofted through ball over the visiting defence which Hughes lobbed beautifully over Jones from a tight angle before watching it nestle in the far corner. It was a fine way for Notts to wrap up a comfortable win. There was one final highlight for the home fans as promising young left sided player Nathan Fox was introduced, representing the first of the fruits from Notts' new youth set up. He could've capped this moment with a goal, but miscontrolled Hughes' brilliant cross field pass and was thwarted by Jones as he tried to get on the end of a parried Lee Hughes shot. It was a night of positives for the Magpies though as they recorded by far the most comfortable home win in a season of wins at Meadow Lane.

Notts Co - Schmeichel, Moloney, Thompson, Lee, Clapham, Westcarr (Hamshaw), Davies, Ravenhill, Ritchie (Fox), Hughes, Rodgers (Hawley

Notts County 4 (Rodgers '13, Hughes '14, '79, Davies '17)

Darlington 0

Attendance - 4,606 (123 Darlington)