After last weekend’s disappointment in their season opener against Dover Athletic, Notts County bounced back with an impressive home win against newly promoted Altrincham.
The Magpies earnt a 3-1 win at Meadow Lane thanks to an early brace from Kyle Wootton and a fine strike from new signing Jake Reeves. Dan Mooney’s curling strike inside the final quarter of an hour was merely a consolation for the visitors.
It took just 14 minutes for Notts to go ahead through Kyle Wootton’s smart finish. There was an element of offside in the build-up to the goal but the forward got on the end of Wes Thomas’ pass before cutting inside and firing into the bottom corner.
Moments later and Altrincham were nearly level when midfielder Josh Hancock rushed through on goal but Sam Slocombe was quick off his line to thwart the danger.
Notts then doubled their advantage on 27 minutes and it was that same combination again. Thomas showed great desire to keep the ball in play on the byline before he floated in a perfectly timed cross that Wootton nodded home.
With seven to play until half-time Wootton had the chance to seal a first-half hat-trick from the spot. Tom Hannigan was deemed to have fouled the Notts number nine, but Tony Thompson then guessed correctly in the Altrincham net, pushing the ball around the post.
The visitors looked to have started the second-half with an injection of energy and were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty of their own. However, two chances in quick succession for Notts put a stop to the Robins attempted comeback.
First, Wootton went close to earning his first career hat-trick yet again only to be denied by Thompson from close range. Cal Roberts then tried to get in on the act for the hosts, grazing the post with a curling effort from outside the box.
County finally put to bed any chance of an Altrincham comeback just after the hour mark when Jake Reeves scored his first goal for the club. The ex-Bradford City midfielder caught the Robins keeper by surprise with a long-range effort that flew into the bottom left corner.
Thomas nearly had a goal to add to his two assists when Reeves swung in a cross from deep on 73 minutes. The forward beat his marker to the delivery but his bullet header flashed wide on the post.
Substitute Dan Mooney pulled one back for the visitors minutes later with another long-range strike. The midfielder darted past two Notts defenders before curling a low shot into the bottom corner from 20-yards.
Notts County boss Neal Ardley praised his side’s performance, stating: “We played some good stuff and could’ve scored more goals but they’re a good footballing team.”
Asked if it was an improvement from Saturday’s loss at Dover, he said: “Massively, obviously the pitch helps, with the way we try and play football, and some of the passing patterns were great today.
“We’ve got a lot of goals in us we just need to make sure we’re not open without the ball.”
By Pete Trifunovic