Neal Ardley hailed Notts County’s defensive resolve after they climbed into the National League playoff places with a 2-0 win over Torquay United at Meadow Lane.
The Magpies opened the scoring after just eight minutes when Richard Brindley struck a wonderful goal from all of 30 yards after the visitors had half-cleared a corner.
Kristian Dennis’ third goal in as many games doubled Notts’ lead after the break as Torquay pushed hard to find a way back into the contest.
Connell Rawlinson had to make a goalline clearance to preserve Notts’ clean sheet and it underlined their defensive qualities which thrilled Notts boss Ardley.
“At the end of a long week, with three games, with the threat they posed in the last two away games, and the fact they are the top scorers in the league you have to get a lot of things right,” he said.
“It felt like a grind. It didn’t feel too free-flowing and I didn’t see too many of our patterns in there.
“But the way we defended was excellent. Sam hasn’t had a save to make, we’ve cleared one of the line and the amount of blocks we made is why you keep clean sheets.
“They are a good team and you have to try to get every part of your game right. We took two of the chances we created and we’ve thrown our bodies in the way of everything.”
