Whilst the world sat back in awe of the performance of a certain Scally-cum-Manc hot-shot, Notts County – seemingly a world away from the Theatre of Dreams and multi-million pound pre-prodigies – were humbled in front of a ‘crowd’ barely a thousand strong as, for the third time in three years, County dropped out at the first attempt in the new-age Ronald McDonald cup.
With wholesale changes in place to accommodate for injury, Emmet Friars was thrown straight into the, ahem, melting pot for his first senior appearance as a Notts County player. However, the Magpies coped well, with an ad-lib line-up coping well against higher league opposition.
The Magpies started brightest, with youngster Kelvin Wilson showing maturity defiant of his junior years, tackling with confidence and bounding forward with buoyancy.
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Notts, however, retained their composure – with an unlikely midfield duo of Matty Gill and Craig Pead operating to a painfully efficient level in the middle of the park.
But the Magpies were, unlike their league trends, not out by the shouting, as just five minutes later, Notts found their equaliser. Glynn Hurst lead a, for once, convincing break-away before slotting home another loanee, Youssef Sofiane to sprint and slot home admirably under naked pressure from the Dragons’ rear-guard and the Wrexham ‘keeper – who vegetated on his goal-line from an initially poor Sofiane touch.
Notts strutted on, netting again just moments later – but Baudet’s stab at goal, perhaps deservedly, was pulled back for offside.
In a Notts side that would have looked hard to fault on the night, Chris O’Grady was producing the spectacular from the otherwise ordinary. His rosy run across the edge of the box lead to his shot being stopped at the feet of Wrexham’s ‘keeper, Matt Baker.
Despite more Notts pressure, it took until the seventieth minute of the match before Notts managed to claim a merited goal to stick their noses out-front. David Pipe – who until this stage of the game had seemed rather irrelevant on the right-flank – looped a neat ball over the top of the Welshmen’s – backed of 88 Wrexham fans, one reported to be attending his 500th consecutive Wrexham game – defence for Glynn Hurst who, staying true to form as of em...Saturday, nipped in for his sixth of the season.
But this was not to be the end of the scoring, as substitute Hector Sam gallivanted off down the left to cross for Llewellyn – who incidentally turned down Notts for the Dragons prior to last season – who, after having his first attempt blocked on the line, got a fortunate header to repent for his sinful miss.
But as thoughts of a hopes of taking the game to extra time, Llewellyn again put pain to any hopes of cup ‘glory’ as his cross picked out Hector Sam for the winner.
Full time: NOTTS COUNTY 2-3 Wrexham
In spite of the defeat, Gary Mills will surely take many a positive from the game. Another promising performance on a team level, as well as the steady rise of Kelvin Wilson. His performance – in front of several Premiership scouts last night – will be sure to raise the bar for a more regular role in the side.
Match Ratings to follow shortly.