[ 3 Feb 26 ] Notts County v GILLS Match Thread

[Garawa]

- The Gills have won 18 matches against Notts County who, themselves, have won 12. 6 of the 36 meetings have been drawn but there have been none in the 10 games since a 2-2 draw at Priestfield in October 2008. The Gills have won 4 and lost 2 of the last 6 meetings and won 6 and lost 4 of the last 10.
- The Gills have won their last 2 visits to Notts County. In their last 10 visits, the Gills have enjoyed 6 wins and 2 defeats - the last coming 3 visits before back in October 2014.
- Notts County failed to score in their defeat at Priestfield, their only blank sheet in their opening 20 league games but then 3 came in the following 4 league matches. Since then, County have won 4 league games in a row.
- Until the Gills conceded 3 goals before half time against Bromley, they had only seen 2 first half goals conceded in 8 games and they had only scored 3 in the last 7. Notts County have scored 4 in the previous 9 (1 in each of the last 3) whilst they have conceded just 1 in the last 9.
- Notts County have found themselves behind for just 365 minutes in League 2, the fewest number of minutes in League 2, and the 4 deficits in the last 11 games have totaled just 66 minutes. It has contributed to them having the shortest average deficit duration, behind for just 24.3 minutes for every lead conceded.

[Tue 3rd February 2026] EFL Sky Bet League 2: Notts County v Gillingham FC
Opposition Manager: Martin Paterson Matchday Team: James Belshaw, Lewis Macari (Lucas Ness), Matty Platt, [c] Jacob Bedeau, Maziar Kouhyar, Oliver Norburn, Scott Robertson, Nick Tsaroulla, Tyrese Hall (Lee Ndlovu), Tom Iorpenda, Matthew Dennis (Keanan Bennetts)
Opposition League Position: Sky Bet League 2 (5th)
Referee: Abigail Byrne
Attendance: 8,731 (404)

(19:45) Kick Off [ 4 - 3 - 1 - 2 ]
(19.57) After sustained pressure from the Gills around the County box, the hosts win a corner. A couple of blocks results in bodies on the line stuff as County can't force the ball towards Morris but also the Gills can't clear. The ball rebounds to County who drives a cross across the face of goal only 2 yards from the goaline, just missing any outstretched foot to deflect it home.
(20.11) Norborn forces a good save from Morris after a strong shot from outside of the box.
(20.12) GOAL! Notts County 1-0 Gillingham: Robertson
(20.16) Tsaroulla cuts back onto his left foot inside the box and curls a shot just wide of the left post with Morris rooted to the spot.
(20.24) Fantastic strike from Hale goes wide however it was from a long way out, stayed below the crossbar at pace and hit the stanchion at the back of the net.
(20.27) Kouhyar curls a shot round Morris and his effort narrowly misses the far post.
(20.28) A lovely ball falls perfectly for Hale through the middle. He taps it goalward but just catches the 'keeper who was going low to block the path to goal.
(20.30) 1 minute will be added to the half just as the Gills win a free kick on the left hand edge of the box, 24 yards from goal.
(20.31) Half time 1-0
Notts County are unbeaten when leading at half time, winning 6 of the 8 games and winning 4 of the 5 at home. The Gills are winless when losing at the break, losing 4 of the 7 but away from home, have drawn 2 and lost 1 of the 3 they were losing.

(20.46) The second half kicks off.
(20.50) Clark consistently tugs at a County attacker and eventually the makes its way into the box. Beckles slices a clearance high and under the crossbar where Morris gathers but the referee pulls play back to the edge of the box where Clark was deemed to have commited his final foul. The kick nestles into the back of the net but the wrong side of the net for the hosts with most in the ground thinking it was in.
(21.10) Inch perfect pass for the hosts passes Morris with 2 waiting at the back to tap home. Gale hooks it wide of the post in the nick of time for a corner from which Little heads the resulting shot off the line.
(21.13) Dack cuts the ball back for Vokes to slot home but its a little straight at the keeper who makes a brilliant reaction save with his legs.
(21.27) Gills have been pressing hard for the equaliser. A great cross is perfect for a header at the far post. It is headed wide for a corner but the officials think it came off the head of Vokes and its a goal kick.
(21.28) A great cross from Bennetts finds Ndlovu unmarked in the centre of the box but he slices it well wide under no pressure.
(21.32) The fourth official signals for a minimum of 4 additional minutes.
(21.34) Fantastic save from Hale who is denied somehow by the outstretched leg of the 'keeper.
(21.34) Beckles and Dack have point-blank shots saved heroically by Belshaw, the latter on the goalline after initially spilling Omar's shot.
(21.35) FULL TIME 1-0

Gills' League Position After Game: 14th
Match Report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/clyzljyj89nt
Match highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlKJ1wRnRTY

[Garawa]

Match originally scheduled for 4th January (waterlogged pitch)

[lidbid46]

Goodness knows how we didn't at least salvage a draw from this one. Those chances at the end were almost unmissable, but all ended up being directed straight at their goalkeeper. There was much to like about the performance though; hopefully once the new guys bed in a bit more, positive results will follow.

[Garawa]

It's getting too frequent. 11 shots on target against Bromley, the most for a LONG time and only scored once. We had similarly fantastic opportunities in the first half against Harrogate and probably could have had 7 in that match. We probably should have managed 6 against Newport and missed 2 clear open goals and only narrowly won the match.

Not taking opportunities has long been a terribly bad problem for us and has been for some time now. It HAS to improve.

[lidbid46]

Indeed.