Notts County boss Stuart Maynard believed Port Vale’s match-winning goal was offside after falling to a 1-0 defeat at Meadow Lane.
The hosts started quickly as Dan Crowley and Alassana Jatta had efforts to put their side ahead, yet both chances were squandered.
Shortly after, Port Vale went into a 23rd-minute lead. Excellent work down the left from Ronan Curtis saw the winger fire the ball low across the County penalty area into the path of Lorent Tolaj, who fired low into the bottom left corner past Alex Bass.
Jayden Stockley came close on a number of occasions in the second half to extend Vale’s advantage.
A goalmouth scramble ensued deep inside the County six-yard box, but the ball just evaded the right boot of the forward.
Then in stoppage time, a long ball from goalkeeper Connor Ripley found Stockley, however, his effort flew over the crossbar.
Substitute Robbie Cundy came close at the end with a header deep into added time, but his goal-bound header was held by Ripley.
County suffered a second straight home defeat, although head coach Maynard was left annoyed about the manner of the match-winning strike.
“It is just frustrating for me as their goal is offside,” he said.
“Would I say it is a definite foul? No, but if you watch it back it is offside, so it is frustrating and it is another game at home that we want to win.
“We have performed to an extremely high level in both games now (Port Vale and Gillingham) and it shows where we are at.
“It shows that we are in a good place to be competing at the top end of the division.
“The subs that we are bringing on at the minute, they are not up to speed and they are getting back up to 100 per cent, so we have to be patient.
“Tuesday night’s game (against Northampton) is going to be important for the squad.”
Port Vale boss Darren Moore was understandably delighted with his side’s display.
“I am really pleased because it was a hard-fought three points,” Moore said.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult place to come and we knew we would have to work hard off the ball, and we got that from the boys today, not just from the starting XI but from the boys that came on.
“It was an all-round team effort. It was the third game in a week and we got this just about right with the system that they play.
“We knew they were really strong, but we had the personnel to deal with that. We tweaked the shape today and it paid off.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
