Season Review: February

Last updated : 05 June 2005 By Rob Davies
Coming into the month on the back of hugely disappointing defeats against Maccesfield (5-0) and Leyton Orient (2-0), there was a general feeling that this was Ian Richardson's first big test in his management career.

The 34-year-old's response was impressive, bringing in fans' favourite Stallard on-loan from Barnsley until the end of the season on the eve of the crunch derby at home to Mansfield Town.

Stallard: The second coming
Stallard's return came hand-in-hand with mass hysteria at the 'Lane, with the return of the floppy-haired forward bringing much immediate optimism in what was a hugely disappointing time for the Magpies.

Despite a semi-impressive second debut for Stallard - who took the place of the sulking Glynn Hurst - Notts were again woeful, losing 1-0 to the Stags, meaning that the Field Mill outfit had now completed the double over Richardson's men.

This despite them being managed by Carlton Palmer, who promptly cleared out a few more of his talented players following the victory.

Notts were now on their worst run since Richardson took over the reins from Gary Mills, this coming just a month after the then-Caretaker was made boss until the end of the season - after repeated requests from the under-performing players.

Richardson was again busy in the transfer market following the derby defeat, but his attempts to bring in fresh blood proved fruitless, with a move for former team-mate and friend Peter Kennedy falling through.

As it turned out though, his existing team were to prove up to the task of ending the miserable run, with a typically unpredictable win at playoff-chasing Darlington.

As the NCM match report for that game suggested: 'It seems, of late, that the Magpies know but two scopes – the sublime, and the utter ridiculous.'

Fortunately, in this game we saw the former, with goals from Kelvin Wilson and David Pipe sealing a 2-1 win.

Richardson's men weren't quite able to reach those heights in their mid-week fixture though, when they played out a tremendously dull 0-0 draw at home to Northampton Town. The less said about this match, the better.

The Magpies continued their unpredictable form when they could only draw 1-1 at home to struggling Rushden & Diamonds, a side who were notoriously bad on their travels.

Gordon: Broken jaw
Notts were able to create countless chances though, but - in the absence of Stallard - just proved unable to take them, with Hurst in particular, guilty of missing good oppurtunities.

The game proved significant for the wrong reasons though, with crowd favourite Gavin Gordon suffering a nasty broken jaw, which ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign.

Mike Whitlow also suffered a knee injury in the fixture, which - despite an extremely painful brief return against Boston in March - would also end his season.

Despite the initial disappointment at Notts' inability to beat Rushden, the Magpies were now on a mini-unbeaten run, typifying their inconsistent form all season.

Before the month was out - after the mid-week fixture at Boston had been postponed due to frost - they were to extend this run to four games, after another surprising away day victory.

Notts managed to beat bogey-side Wycombe at Adams Park 2-1, after another highly impressive travelling performance.

Wilson - now playing the best football of his short career - was again on the scoresheet, though the win was capped by a 35-yard wonderstrike by midfielder Stefan Oakes, against the side who, as of July, will pay his wages.

For the continuation of both the player's report cards, plus the season review, be sure to check back to NCM in the near future.