New grounds, don’t you just love them? Designed with the travelling fan in mind, they are, on the whole, much easier to find than their predecessors. Unless, of course, you’re using a ten-year old copy of The Football Ground Guide.
After informing me that Oxford come out to the pitch to the tunes of ‘local hero Gary Glitter’ and pointing me in the direction of the Manor Ground, I stopped off to dispose of the book somewhere on the A34 and decided to drive blind. Luckily, there was a nice network of ugly brown signs to point in the right direction. Who said romance in football is dead?
Once in the unimpressive Kassam Stadium – which must surely double up as an aircraft hanger on non-match days - the travelling fans saw a Notts side chasing a third straight win for the first time since March 2004 take the game to fellow underachievers Oxford. Ruben Zadkovich, looking like the tricky playmaker we never had, was first to make his mark, finding Glynn Hurst in the opposition’s area. Only a stunning double save from home keeper Chris Tardif kept the score level.
Notts County were impressive in the first half, and got their reward in the twenty-seventh minute when Julien Baudet rose to head home a cross from the recalled Matty Williams to give County the deserved lead.
Oxford had very little to offer in retaliation and their only real chance of the half came after Paul Bolland, playing as a right-back, failed an attempted clearance and allowed a cross into the box. Deeney was able to parry Hackett’s drive but only as far as Oxford striker Steve Basham. With an open goal in his sights, Basham seemed destined to score but Kelvin Wilson did just enough to put him off and the former Southampton striker shot wide of the post.
Notts continued to constrain a lacklustre United, whose frustration was evident in a disgraceful tackle by manager's son Emiliano Diaz on Chris Palmer, which earned the Oxford midfielder a yellow card on the stroke of half-time.
Half-time: Oxford United 0 Notts County 1
The second half was a different story as Oxford turned on the pressure. After a Mark Stallard goal was harshly disallowed for off-side, rotund centre-back Mateo Corbo tried to inspire his side with a thunderous drive that forced a terrific save out of Saul Deeney, before narrowly heading over from the resulting corner.
So here we were, with seventy minutes gone, and Notts holding their own. Could they hang on to the lead, giving Richo’s job prospects a boost and sending the Notts fans home dreaming of a promotion push next year? Get a grip; this is Notts County we’re talking about.
With Oxford looking unlikely to score on their own steam, Bolland decided, quite literally, to give them a helping hand. With a wayward cross travelling toward Didcot, Bolland, under no pressure, elected to jump up and handle it. Oops. Tommy Mooney dispatched the penalty, and surprisingly, it turned out the home fans did have vocal cords after all.
If the first penalty was blatant, then the second was certainly more contentious. United sub Craig Davies took a dramatic tumble under pressure from Baudet on the edge of the area and a second penalty was given. Did Davies dive? The Magpie fans certainly felt that he did.
Mooney scored his second penalty of the game, and there was no way back for a jaded Notts. Not even the traditional ‘too late to make a difference’ substitutions were able to galvanise The Magpies' to search for an equaliser and a tame injury-time header from Shaun Harrad apart, they never threatened to steal a point.
Full-time: Oxford United 2 Notts County 1
An injury-hit Notts certainly had much to be proud of following this dull end-of-season game. They showed industry, effort and even on occasion flair. However, they still lost. When it comes down to it, Notts failed to score more than one due to a complete lack of intelligent play from set-pieces.
Corners and the majority of the crosses were little more than an exercise in passing the ball to the hands of Chris Tardif, while the free-kicks were taken with pinpoint accuracy – if they were aiming for my car.
From what was on display at the Kassam Stadium, Notts, with a little more guidance, do have the ability to challenge next season. Even without Stefan Oakes, Notts were able to carve chances and look a far more well-rounded team than they did six months ago.
However, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Many a time this season, Notts have lost because they were completely outclassed and outfought by their opposition. This time out, Notts lost purely because of lapses in concentration.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that’s any less annoying.