Notts County - 3
Boldewijn 15', Sam 19', Knowles 89'
Roberts injury forces Ardley's arm and a change in formation delivers as Ruben and Sam shine.
Notts Line Up (4-2-3-1)
Sam Slocombe
Richard Brindley
Ben Turner
Connell Rawlinson
Dion Kelly-Evans
Jake Reeves
Michael Doyle (C)
Elisha Sam (Jimmy Knowles 88')
Enzio Boldewijn
Ruben Rodrigues (Jim O'Brien 74')
Kyle Wootton
Substitutes not used:
Adam Chicksen
Matty Wolfe
Luke Pilling
If Saturday's win at Chesterfield was considered a little fortunate the same cannot be said for what turned out to be an accomplished victory over a somewhat gung-ho Wealdstone.
Notts were on the front foot from the onset chalking up 6 goal attempts inside the first 5 or 6 minutes.
It wasn't long before The Magpies were rewarded for their efforts with Enzio Boldewijn finishing off assertively after Harvey Isted, the Wealdstone keeper had parried a low shot from Ruben Rodrigues.
This was Enzio's 3rd goal of the season and second in two games.
Notts continued to push and didn't have to wait long for a second following some great individual play by Elisha Sam, nutmegging a Stones defender on the by-line before firing home from a tight angle.
The Magpies were in rampant mood but despite notching up 14 attempts on goal in the first 45 minutes they were unable to extend their lead further.
Wealdstone manager Dean Brennan rung the changes at half time bringing on Parrett for Phillips in Midfield and despite giving the Stones a bit more of a foothold in a game that saw them persist with a suicidal front 3 formation, they just couldn't break down a Notts defence determined to clock up just their second clean sheet of the season.
Notts continued to ask questions of the Wealdstone defence and put the icing on the cake when substitute Jimmy Knowles, who had literally just stepped onto the Meadow Lane turf, netted his second goal of the season after some fine work from front man Kyle Wootton.
All in all a very satisfying display and a special mention for Sam and Rodrigues who I am sure would have had the crowd on their feet in appreciation of their creative and industrious performances were fans in attendance.
On to the stats and a quick look at the key match stats which provide a good visual of Notts' dominance.
Minutes played and it's worth mentioning that Sam Slocombe, Michael Doyle and Jake Reeves have played every single minute so far this season.
Goal contribution table updated.
Moving on to xG now and with Notts having 27 attempts on the Wealdstone goal their expected goals came in 270% higher than their season average of 1.8 per game at 4.86.
Wealdstone created 6 chances all game which despite their high scoring this season is amazingly not far off average for them. This converted to an xG for the game of 1.08 meaning they would normally be good for at least a single goal but were faced with some resilient defending when threatening the Notts goal.
Points needed and with 9 games played Notts have a PPG of 1.777 which would see a return of just over 78 points for 44 games. You can see from the chart below that would effectively see them challenging in the top 3.
Results tracker updated:
League progress now and the win sees Notts move up to 6th place . . . for the time being.
Remember you can view league table, latest form, match info and player stats here
League and form tables on the website will be updated after todays round of National League games.
Goal time segments updated and Notts continue to score either early on or very late!
Interactive goal scatter chart updated. Like before hover over a dot to see info about that goal.
Of the 17 goals scored by Notts so far this season 14 have come from open play with 3 goals being scored from outside the penalty area.
Player ratings updated after match 9 and things are starting to look a bit more interesting now with more goal scorers and a couple of clean sheets.
Neal Ardley's record updated:
On to next Wednesday night and a 7pm kick off at Dagenham where Notts will be looking to continue their upturn in form and hopefully provide a reverse of the 2-0 defeat suffered last time out at Victoria Road.
Until then . . .
COYP!
Richard