FIRST OF THE QUARTER FINAL SPOTS CLAIMED IN THE SATURDAY SENIOR CHALLENGE CUP
FIRST OF THE QUARTER FINAL SPOTS CLAIMED IN THE SATURDAY SENIOR CHALLENGE CUP
Notts County comfortably secured their place in the Saturday Senior Cup quarter final last night (21st January) as they beat AFC Mansfield 1-3 at The Forest Town Arena.
Final Score: AFC Masnfield 1 - 3 Notts County FC
Scorers: Buxton (33') - Cummings (9', 15'), Palmer (70')
Attendance: 222
Officials: Dave Hunt (Referee), Dave Plowright (AR1), Steve Sears (AR2)
Quick off the mark County put the AFC keeper to work in the opening minutes, keeping out a curling free kick from Jim O’Brien.
The visitors kept momentum and their efforts were rewarded as Kieran Cummings found the bottom left corner underneath Warhurst in the early minutes of the game. (9’ | 0-1)
Minutes after taking the lead County were back in AFC area as Palmer has his chance denied. Cummings was back with a second goal, a tight angle rebound after Warhurst blocked a one-on-one attempt. (11’ | 0-2)
Warhurst was once again put to the test at the half an hour mark but a skilled stop denied Palmer his second attempt to get on the score sheet.
As half time grew near AFC came into their own and captain Phil Buxton halved county’s lead after Morgan James used an advantage following an unpunished challenge on Betts.
Buxton found the ball at his feet and made a simple finish from 10 yards out. (34’ | 1-2)
County had one last effort to restore their two-goal lead, but Tyreace Palmer was further denied a goal on the stroke of half time. (HT: 1-2)
After a hopeful end to the first half AFC struggled to get their momentum after the break. Giving the County goalkeeper a relatively quiet half.
Palmer finally found his efforts rewarded at 70 minutes when a Howes’ reserve pass found the striker who fired past Warhurst at the near post. (70’ | 1-3)
In the end a comfortable win was secured for a young County side who progress onto the quarter final of the Saturday Senior Cup.
A huge thank you to AFC Mansfield for their warm hospitality welcoming us to their home last night.
Elsewhere in the county last night Teversal beat Arnold Town 1-0 to secure their place in the next round of the competition.
Things were all square (0-0) at the final whistle at the SR Timber Arena, so the game spilled over to extra time. A reported own goal from Arnold Town in the first half of extra time sees Teversal advance.
Final fixtures of R4 to be played 22nd January and 4th February sees Nottingham Forest (U23s) re-enter the competition as they face current cup winners Basford United.
(Photo Credit: Dan Westwell)