Notts County

Meadow Lane, home of Notts County based just outside Nottingham city centre and a stone throw away from their local rivals home ground, Nottingham Forest. The World’s oldest football league club… well they were before they were relegated from League 2 at the end of the 2018/19 season after 157 years of Professional football dating all the way back to 1862. 17^th March 2018 and the Nottinghamshire derby day had arrived and me and my brother Broseph were aboard the 10am train to Nottingham, safe to say were excited!!

We met Broseph’s mate the Super Stag and headed to the waterfront bar in Nottingham city centre where the Mansfield fans were gathered. A march to the ground supervised by police was happening half an hour before kick off. A first for me! The march began and chant after chant from the Mansfield faithful! “YELLOW & BLUE ARMY!!”

£20 for this Nottinghamshire Derby! Decent! An absolute free for all in the break out area before the stands but we finally found our seats and the sing off between both sets of fans begun! A huge banner in the Meadow Lane Kop flowed through the fans with County’s famous wheelbarrow song echoing around the ground.

Kick Off! Notts County started the better of the 2 sides as the snow continued to fall. Not many clear cut chances for either side but County continued to have more of the ball. 34 minutes on the clock and a ball over the top found Jorge Grant on the left hand side who played the ball across the Mansfield penalty box and found Shola Ameobi 5 yards out with plenty of space… SAVED! Conrad Logan spread himself and touched it out for a corner. The corner was played in towards Shola Ameobi AGAIN! OFF THE BAR! So close for County but the ball came down and Terry Hawkridge was there to bundle the ball in and sent the Notts County fans into delirium! 1-0 to County who hadn’t beaten Mansfield in the league since 2005. The first half played out to close with the score 1-0 to the homeside.

Second Half, the sun was out and began to melt the snow off the pitch. Notts County continued to be the better team with Mansfield having little answer. 55 minutes gone and Kane Hemmings won possession on the halfway line, he ran towards goal inside the box, shot… Saved and out for a corner. Mansfield began to grow into this match as the second half carried on. 10 minutes to go and Danny Rose had the ball in the County area, cut inside and shoots! Just wide… So close for Mansfield! With continual time wasting from Notts County, 6 minutes of added time was shown, Mansfield now began to throw the kitchen sink at County. 95 minutes and Paul Digby had the ball and measured a cross, Alex MacDonald free in the box… OH WHAT A SAAVE!! It is a corner though, one last chance and Conrad Logan came up from the Mansfield goal for this one.

The corner was taken and cleared to the edge of the box where Alex MacDonald headed back in to the box……… “HAND BALL REF!!!!!!” Screamed me, Broseph and the 4,100 Traveling Mansfield fans! The Referee has pointed to the spot!!!! Penalty for Mansfield right at the death!! Stoppage time had been played and the furious Notts County players surrounded the Referee. 99 minutes played now and with the snow falling down again, it was Kane Hemmings who had the job of snatching a point and maintaining their unbeaten record against County. Me and the Mansfield fans held their breath. Hemmings stepped up……… AND SCORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE DID IT!!!! Limbs in the away end!! Mansfield are level! It would be the final action of the match and what an ending!!!

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FT: Notts County 1-1 Mansfield Town

Ratings

• Atmosphere: 9/10 – Plenty of deafening noise from both sets of fans in this one!!
• The Ground: 8/10 – It’s a great ground, definitely fit for Championship football at the least.
• Expense: 9/10 – £20 for a local derby is a great price, the game as a whole wasn’t the best match but it had a famous moment right at the end.
• Overall Experience: 10/10 – I left the ground feeling fabulous after that! The moment of Mansfield’s season in my opinion. It was a great day from the pre match build up to the end. The first time me and Joseph had been an away fan at a football league match will always be one I remember.

36/40