Neal Ardley hoping Notts County victory proves to be turning point
Posted Sunday, December 16, 2018 by PA
Neal Ardley is hoping his first win as Notts County manager could be the turning point in the Magpies’ disappointing season after Jon Stead’s double fired them to a 3-2 win against Tranmere.
Stead powered home a penalty midway through the second half in a see-saw game to give the Magpies their first league win since October, leaving them just one point inside the relegation zone.
Stead and Kane Hemmings scored either side of Jonathan Smith’s super strike to give County a 2-1 half-time lead before Dale Jennings equalised for Tranmere for a second time.
But Stead fired in the winner after Nathan Thomas coaxed Mark Ellis into a foul.
“It was brilliant and it was all about the three points,” Ardley said.
“After the last couple of games, in which the second half was not quite as dynamic as the first, we worked hard during the week and told the boys to trust their legs.
“There is the mental side of the game to bear in mind too. We took the lead, conceded, took the lead again and conceded once more.
“We had to keep going to get that third goal and that was brilliant. We saw the game out well too. We know we are not going to be the best defensive team in the league overnight.
“There are things we need to work on and we will look at that in the video analysis in the next week.
“We had some really good chances before the goals came and it was great to see the strikers on the scoresheet.”
Defeat for Tranmere knocks them out of the play-off places and, had they shown more composure at both ends of the pitch, then they would surely have left with the points.
But several missed chances and Ellis’ avoidable foul leaves them in eighth place and manager Micky Mellon was frustrated at their lack of focus.
“I am disappointed because, without a shadow of a doubt, we were the better team, the team that was in the ascendancy and the team which looked like it would get the next goal,” he said.
“Nobody can argue with me about that – but then we give away a crazy penalty from nothing.
“We lose three goals away from home again, and we have got to find out the reasoning behind it and look deeply at it too.
“The game doesn’t lie and there’s not a lot of use me standing here telling you what the game has already told you and what we have to be better at.
“That was quite clear. When we get back to 2-2, the most disappointing thing is we find ourselves 3-2 down against a team that was hanging on.”
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