Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Oliver King

Five things learned from Notts County's record breaking win over Solihull Moors

Notts County Football Club continues to provide its fans with an emotional rollercoaster in this quite remarkable National League season, and yesterday was no different.

With the Magpies on the cusp of achieving greatness, they had to earn the title of record-breakers the hard way after falling behind early on through Callum Maycock's opener.

And just when many thought that former manager Neal Ardley had dealt a blow to their championship hopes, a player he signed from Den Bosch in 2020 proved the difference maker.

READ MORE: Ruben Rodrigues explains 'Love Island' inspired celebration following Notts County victory

Here are the key talking points from the win in the West Midlands.

Turning it around

The first half showing at the ARMCO Arena was light and day of what we have become accustomed to from this group of Notts County players.

There was a lack of intensity, sloppiness in possession, and potential nerves with the Magpies on the cusp of achieving the 93-year record.

Aden Baldwin set the tone with a couple of loose passes into midfield early on that the hosts could not take advantage of, but that carelessness in possession proved contagious, with Kyle Cameron providing a gift midway through the first period that allowed Maycock to open the scoring.

It's been a persistent theme of Notts' season so far, conceding far too many avoidable goals largely down to their own doing rather than through a moment of quality from the opposition.

And despite going into the break level through Ruben Rodrigues' penalty, Williams' side were slightly fortuitous to find themselves still in the game, but a sign of potential champions is still managing to find a way even when they are not playing well.

Something we have yet to see this season is the Magpies boss' anger from the side-lines, and that was evident as he emerged from the tunnel not even five minutes into the interval as he prowled the touchline on his own before his team came back out for the second half.

It was a game that last season this group of players would not have been able to come back from, but whatever was said at the interval seemed to inspire Notts.

Albeit surviving an early scare as Andrew Dallas beat the offside trap barely a minute into the second half, there seemed more urgency and intensity within their play, biting into the challenges that they were second best to in the first half and becoming more forward-thinking in their approach.

It was a much improved second-half display, and that is largely down to the influence of the Magpies manager and the application of this group of players to achieve important results.

Influential changes

With the game still level heading into the final 25 minutes, Williams turned to his bench in search of another priceless three points.

With the likes of Sam Austin at his disposal, the Magpies boss opted for the experience of John Bostock in midfield along with newest recruit Jodi Jones to aid the attack.

Williams was criticised for starting Bostock in their 1-1 draw with Boreham Wood, but his introduction into the action was the perfect replacement in midfield to allow the visitors to control the possession and create chances that lead to the eventual winner.

His experience and composure on the ball combatted the industrious Solihull midfield that had sometimes overwhelmed both Geraldo Bajrami and Matty Palmer at times, but you felt with his presence on the field that the Magpies would somehow find a way to score.

Jones also influenced the attacking areas, offering support to the lively Nemane in the likely avenue for Williams' side to fashion an opportunity, freeing up Macaulay Langstaff in the final third and allowing him more freedom to operate and hurt the Moors defence.

Williams rarely gets these decisions wrong, but those substitutions may have won him the game on Tuesday night.

The shining light

While Ruben Rodrigues will receive the plaudits for another sensational performance, one player that needs to be highlighted is Aaron Nemane.

The Frenchman has been in blistering form in recent weeks, putting on another direct and influential performance down the right-hand side, and was the shining light in what was a poor first-half display.

It was evident that Nemane was up for the fight right from the start, producing several darting runs behind the Solihull defence while also using his pace and trickery to great effect to manoeuvre chances seemingly out of nothing.

On another day he may have added to his growing assist tally, but he also produced arguably the most important challenge he will make this season, stopping Andrew Dallas with the scores level with a one-on-one challenge albeit with shouts of handball from the Solihull side-line.

With the absence of Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, it was going to be a tough month for the 25-year-old given the congested fixture list, but he has passed that test of endurance with flying colours and continues to get better with every game.

The best January business

With the January transfer window slamming shut yesterday evening, it brought an end to speculation that any of this current squad would be leaving Meadow Lane last month.

The squad was strengthened with the arrivals of Norwich City loanee Archie Mair along with attacking midfielder Jones on loan from Oxford United.

But arguably the best bit of business done by the Magpies during the window was keeping hold of both Langstaff and Rodrigues following their excellent starts to the campaign.

The 23-goal striker was subject to interest from many EFL clubs despite only arriving at Meadow Lane in the summer, with many fearing the worst ahead of the second part of the National League season.

But both were named in the starting line-up in their historic win over Solihull Moors, with Rodrigues netting a brace to make it 20 games unbeaten in a season for this phenomenal group of players.

Williams further reiterated that there were no tabled bids for his key players, and explained what his message would be to those players if a late bid was put through.

Speaking before the deadline, the Magpies chief said: "If somebody made an offer now, the first thing I would say to any of the players is that it is through desperation.

"For a club to leave it until this moment is wrong, and I think if you are going to a new club under the wrong circumstances, so I will be making sure they believe me on that one.

"But at the moment, we do not feel any concern about losing any of these players."

Keeping both Langstaff and Rodrigues could prove to be the best bit of business during this window, with the hopes of tying them down to longer-term contracts come the end of the season.

Record breakers

For the loud and proud 894 travelling Notts fans, they witnessed history in the West Midlands.

20 games unbeaten in a season is something that was beyond the realms of possibility at the start of the season, but Williams has proved that the sky is the limit with this group of players.

With the Magpies seemingly on course to drop points yet again going into the final ten minutes, the away support behind them seemed to suck the ball into the goal, providing endless amounts of encouragement every time Notts came forward.

Along with the record-breaking result came a return to the top of the National League, opening up a three-point gap to Wrexham albeit with two more games played.

The title race took yet another twist, and I am sure it will certainly not be the last.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.