3rd tier* League fixture
*Then known as Division Two

Notts County 2     Huddersfield Town 1
Allsopp 14                                             Irons(pen) 82
Nicholson 61
 

Attendance :- 15,618
Referee:-  H. Webb (Rotherham)
Bookings:- Dwayne Mattis (Town) 66, Leam Richardson (Notts) 69
 

Notts County
Colours:- Black & white striped shirts, Black shorts, Black socks.
League Position:- before match 20th/24, after match 19th/24
Manager:- Billy Dearden

Stuart Garden
Leam Richardson
Nick Fenton
Craig Ireland
Kevin Nicholson
Marcel Cas *
Darren Caskey
Jeff Whitley
Richard Liburd
Danny Allsopp
Paul Heffernan +

Sub: Paul Bolland *70
Sub: Mark Stallard +76

Subs not used: Steve Mildenhall (GK), Ian Richardson, Gary Owers
 

Huddersfield Town
Colours:- Red shirts, Blue shorts, Blue socks.
League Position:- before match 6th/24, after match 6th/24
Manager:- Lou Macari

Martyn Margetson
Jerel Ifil
Kevin Gray
Adi Moses
Gareth Evans
Chris Holland
Dwayne Mattis *
Kenny Irons +
Damien Delaney ^
Andy Booth
Delroy Facey

Sub: Chris Hay *70
Sub: Chris Beech +85
Sub: Paul Macari ^86

Subs not used: Paul Evans (GK), Jon Dyson

Video of the match:- Highlights were included on the ITV Sports Channel programme "Football Second".
 

Magpies Online (Official Site) Report

Notts County secured their Second Division status with an outstanding 2-1 victory over Huddersfield Town at Meadow Lane in front of an audience of 15,618.

Notts opened the attacking in the first minute when Heffernan won a free kick. Caskey’s cross was turned back across the area by Nick Fenton before Danny Allsopp put the ball into the back of the net from 3 yards, but the referee had previously called for an offside decision. There was a slight scare in the Notts box when Leam Richardson failed to clear a through ball to the left wing, but Damien Delaney failed to cut the ball back making it easy for Stuart Garden to collect. On 8 minutes the ball bouncing around the edge of the box fell to Nick Fenton whose 25 yard effort screamed goalwards, but shot narrowly over the bar.Danny Allsopp played a superb pass with his head on 10 minutes to put Cas in a position to cross, but Cas failed to cleanly hit a cross making it easy for Margetson to catch. Huddersfield looked likely to take the lead on 11 minutes when Andy Booth broke in on goal, but a great recovering challenge from Jeff Whitley prevented Booth striking at goal.

The Magpies continued to pressure the Huddersfield defence and when Caskey played Liburd in on goal on 13 minutes, Liburd made no mistake in picking out Danny Allsopp at the back post, the young Aussie firing the ball into the back of the net with a clinical header.

Paul Heffernan broke down the left and fired a good cross in for Danny Allsopp, but - at full stretch – Allsopp couldn’t apply a finishing touch, Cas’ follow up at the back post being blocked and scrambled clear by the Terriers back line. Notts looked in danger on 32 minutes when Delroy Facey broke forward after a clash with Nick Fenton that left the Notts defender on the floor, but when Facey pulled the ball back to Kenny Irons on the edge of the box, Irons blasted his chance well wide of the goal causing no threat to Stuart Garden. Notts were denied a penalty when Richard Liburd broke into the box and was brought crashing to the floor under the challenges of numerous Huddersfield defenders, but referee Webb waved the Magpies protests away. Delroy Facey caused problems for the Magpies defence again just before the break after beating the offside trap, but Facey drilled his opportunity well wide of the back post under pressure from Craig Ireland.

Half time: Notts County 1 – 0 Huddersfield Town.

The second half started brightly and when Caskey’s early cross found Nick Fenton at the back post, the Magpies looked set to go two goals ahead but Fenton’s volley was tipped wide by a good save from Martyn Margetson. Stuart Garden turned saviour for Notts on 53 minutes when Dwayne Mattis struck a superb effort from 30 yards that looked to be heading for the bottom left corner, but the outstretched Garden managed to palm the ball around the post to keep the home sides lead.Paul Heffernan – who made his Republic of Ireland under 21 debut earlier this week – broke through on goal after an excellent through ball from Danny Allsopp, but once in the area, Heffernan was robbed of the ball by a superb last minute challenge from Jerel Ifil.

On 61 minutes Kevin Nicholson secured the Magpies Division Two status when he broke forward from his own area before striking a superb 30 yard effort into the bottom right corner to give the home side a 2 goal lead.

Notts continued to pressure and almost extended their lead to 3 when Danny Allsopp’s drive rebounded to Marcel Cas, but his follow up from 10 yards was beaten away by Martyn Margetson. Huddersfield managed to grab a goal back on 81 minutes when Notts conceded a penalty following substitute Paul Bolland pushing Delroy Facey to the floor. Kenny Irons stepped up to blast the ball straight down the middle of the goal and into the back of the net. The visitors almost levelled in the dying seconds of the match when Ade Moses blasted a volley towards goal, but Moses’ effort was cleared off the line by the head of Leam Richardson.

Up the Maggies note:
At the end of February 2002, with 10 league games remaining, County appeared destined for relegation. We were next to bottom in 23rd and 7 points adrift of safety having taken just 2 points from the last available 30. Then, on 2nd March, Notts finally recorded their first home victory of 2002 and embarked on an incredible turnaround, 5 wins in 6 saw the Magpies climb out of the drop zone. Yet, the final pair of away fixtures were both lost to promotion chasing sides QPR and Cardiff, defeats which left Notts still in need of a point to guarantee safety on the final day. County were now one place above the drop with Bournemouth still able to catch them - If Notts lost at home to play-off placed Huddersfield, and Bournemouth were to win at already relegated Wrexham, the Magpies would go down. The biggest league crowd since the re-building of Meadow Lane had been completed nearly eight years earlier turned up and, in light of recent home form, supporters were confident that Notts would get a result, but finger nails were being bitten off as early as the 7th minute as news came through that Bournemouth had gone 1-0 ahead at Wrexham. Another 7 minutes later, Danny Allsopp's superb headed goal calmed the nerves. County looked safe when Kevin Nicholson's solo effort found the net on 61 - Over at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham fans made sure that the Bounemouth players were aware of the 2-0 scoreline at Notts and the disheartened Cherries then conceded an equaliser on 72. Huddersfield pulled a goal back at Meadow Lane from the penalty spot on 82, but Wrexham scored again on 89 to lead Bournemouth 2-1 and County's 3rd tier status was now secured. Notts fans had responded well to the challenge of "The Great Escape" from the moment it had first gathered momentum after an away win at Peterborough, the following home fixtures against Bristol City, Bournemouth and Blackpool had all drawn crowds of at least 7,500 (well above the average) and the buzz that supporters experienced on the final day of the season on the back of 7 wins in 10 left them with great optimism for the next campaign. Sadly the hopes and dreams of a resurgent Notts in 2002/03 were quickly shattered, the 'Great Escape' only served to delay the inevitable as Chairman Albert Scardino failed to secure long promised investment and plunged the club into administration during the summer - a predicament in which Notts would remain for a record 14 months, almost resulting in expulsion from the Football League and eventually leading to relegation in 2004.

Notts County Season 2001/02
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