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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Oliver King

Record breaker, controversial opener and Mair display: Key talking points from Notts County win

For the 638 travelling Notts County fans that made the trip up the M6 to the J. Davidson Stadium, they got to witness first-hand club history being made right in front of their eyes, if they managed to catch it.

Quick thinking from John Bostock put Tom Keetley's 92-year record on a plate for Macaulay Langstaff to gobble up in the first half, taking his total for the Magpies in the league to 40 goals for the season.

And Ruben Rodrigues made sure of the points four minutes into the second half, calmly dispatching his 17th goal of the campaign from the spot after Aaron Nemane's cross was handled in the area - the goal taking Luke Williams' side's total for the campaign to 107 in all competitions.

READ MORE: Luke Williams explains importance of two Notts County players ahead of timely break

Here is a look at the key talking points from the win over Altrincham.

Record breaker

It was a matter of when, not if Langstaff would surpass Tom Keetley's 92-year record of scoring the most goals in a league season for this prestigious football club.

40 goals, all from open play. It is a quite ridiculous achievement by a man who has taken the National League by storm - and he still has five more games to add to his total.

His goal at the J. Davidson Stadium also took him level with the record set by Ricky Miller in the 2016/17 season, with the 26-year-old a matter of inches of breaking two records in one night as he saw a late curling effort bounce agonisingly off the crossbar.

The record in the fifth tier was set by Paul Culpin of Nuneaton Borough in the 1983/84 season which stands at 41 goals in a season, with the British record for most goals from open play in a season standing at 43 - Luke Williams joking after full time Langstaff has "achieved nothing."

The National League's top scorer now has a nine-goal lead at the summit of the Golden Boot standings over Wrexham's Paul Mullin, outscoring both Yeovil Town and Halifax Town for the entirety of the campaign - with six goals separating him from other teams in the division. Absolutely ridiculous. But the club's record-breaking strike did come with its controversy.

Controversial opener

With Notts dominating the opening exchanges, the breakthrough at the J. Davidson Stadium came from quick initiative shown by one of their most experienced players.

Ruben Rodrigues' driving run at the heart of the Altrincham defence was halted when Ben Pringle tugged back on the onrushing midfielder - that seems to be the only way teams in the division can stop Notts' Portuguese magnifico.

With everyone in the ground expecting a routine free-kick, Bostock caught everyone off guard as the Altrincham players surrounded referee Jacob Miles, he poked the ball into the area to provide Langstaff with the simple finish to place the ball beyond Ollie Byrne.

The hosts were aggrieved with the allowing of the goal, but if the question is asked to the referee as to whether play can continue quickly, it showed great awareness from Bostock to take the initiative and capitalise on the situation - Williams heaping praise on goalkeeper coach Tom Weal for his involvement in the opener.

"It's Tom Weal again, he is value for money for set-pieces isn't he?

"He instructed the players to ask the referee if we can the free-kick quickly which is something that has always happened in football - often the referee will adjust the wall, but the referee said that was fine and allowed us to take it quickly.

"On the receiving end of that, it feels unfair, but that is always the case if you conceded this type of free-kick because you are not privy to the conversation with the referee."

Questions were asked about a potential offside from Bostock's pass, but on review of the footage, an Altrincham player over on the far side tying his laces quite clearly plays the Notts number nine onside.

Coming into his own

Having endured a difficult start to his loan spell at Meadow Lane, yesterday was another showcase of the talent Norwich City loanee Archie Mair possesses and the confidence his performance against Scunthorpe has given him.

The 22-year-old was once again comfortable with the ball at his feet, linking the play between defence and midfield with some incisive passes through the Altrincham press, adopting an advanced starting position that saw him sweep up several balls over the top to relieve the sustained pressure shown by the home side.

But his standout moment came six minutes after Langstaff's opener, with Kyle Cameron lunging in on Regan Linney inside the area to provide Phil Parkinson's side a way back into the contest having offered very little in the opening half-hour.

With the added pressure of the 638 Notts fans situated behind Mair's net, the Scot's imposing six foot-five frame posed an intimidating prospect for the Altrincham striker - Mair diving low to his right-hand side to brilliantly tip Linney's effort around the post which cued huge celebrations from his team-mates at a pivotal point of the encounter.

Having not seen regular number one Sam Slocombe save a penalty for Notts since arriving at the club in 2019, Notts fans have seen two penalty saves in their last three away fixtures, with the option of having three exceptional goalkeepers a rarity, especially at this level.

Influence of experience

At a time when Altrincham were slowly starting to grow into the contest, Williams turned to his bench to deploy one of his more experienced players to ensure the three points returned to Meadow Lane.

Having put on an exceptional display against Scunthorpe, midfielder Jim O'Brien returned to the bench in place of Sam Austin, with Jodi Jones providing that extra attacking option after returning from international duty with Malta.

And O'Brien's introduction and influence on the game will have been exactly what his manager would have asked of him - breaking up the play in the middle of the park and being a real nuisance for the final half an hour.

His first involvement of the game was to expertly bring down a high ball in a congested midfield on a difficult surface to maintain possession, before producing an expertly timed challenge on the near touchline which brought applause from his manager and the travelling Notts fans.

Being able to bring a player of that quality from the bench is a luxury, and his influence in the past two victories can not be understated as he continues to push his players for National League glory.

Continuing the momentum

Having suffered a setback in their title aspirations at The Hive Stadium almost two weeks ago, the Magpies responded perfectly with two dominant displays that see them back at the summit of the standings.

Despite Wrexham holding a two-game advantage in the battle for the one automatic place, Williams' side has done what they have needed to do - keep winning.

With a nine-day break before their next fixture with Wealdstone on Good Friday, it comes at a perfect time for the Notts head coach to allow time for recovery and slowly integrate players returning from injury back into the first-team fold ahead of the final five games of the season.

Aden Baldwin, Cedwyn Scott, and Junior Morias are all close to returning to action after their respective injury troubles, and by the time the fixture with Stuart Maynard's side comes around, we could see a full strength Magpies side for the first time in what feels like forever.

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