Latics ease to comfortable victory

Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 31 January 2015


Athletic 3, Notts County 0

Athletic kept their heads in a calm and clinical way while their opponents lost theirs in slapstick fashion.

Thanks to strikes from birthday boy George Elokobi, Amari Morgan-Smith and Jonathan Forte, a second win in three games kept Lee Johnson's men up with their play-off rivals.

Two goals in 83 seconds in the first half set up this first home victory in League One since Bradford back in October.

And while there weren't quite as many whizzes and bangs as there were in that brilliant display, the home side packed plenty of punch in attack and could easily have increased their goal tally. Dominic Poleon alone could have scored four.

This prized three points came at the start of a sequence of five games in 15 days. For good measure, it also put a dent in a rabble-like County outfit's own ambitions.

There was no taming County’s goalkeeper Roy Carroll. After the first goal he angrily threw the ball into the turf to earn a seventh yellow card of the season.

Midfield man Liam Noble also went into the book, for the 11th time this season, for a crude scythe on Danny Philliskirk. His suspension problems can't have helped the Magpies' cause.

As for Athletic's single banned player, Joseph Mills, he might have a job getting back into the side given Connor Brown's superb cross which was headed in by Forte for his 14th goal of the season.

That sweeping move also featured a sublime step-over by Carl Winchester, who might look like a weekend checkout attendant but who possesses rare gifts that can turn games – as happened here.

Athletic, bruised by defeat at Gillingham a week earlier, were feeling their way back into the contest after a sharp start was halted by the visitors.

Up stepped the Belfast man, tearing downfield at speed before delivering a telling through ball to Poleon. His turn was a good one and the striker was clearly hauled back in the box – though referee Peter Bankes disagreed.

The crowd was lifted by Winchester's enterprise, and the team responded. With Elokobi forward from a corner, Liam Kelly whipped in a telling cross and the big centre-back nodded in once again.

Winchester's next contribution was a little more fortuitous, a block tackle landing in space in front of Morgan-Smith who homed in to roll past Carroll. It was a cool finish from the former Kidderminster man, sadly substituted soon after due to a tight hamstring.

County's defensive weaknesses were continually exposed. Poleon had earlier hammered way over after a slightly false first touch and at the other end, debutant goalkeeper Jake Kean's tip-over from Will Hayhurst's free-kick and block of Garry Thompson's late header were the only occasions he was called on in earnest.

With Forte on the pitch for Morgan-Smith, the headache in the visitors' back-line became a migraine after the break.

Forte almost netted with an acrobatic overhead kick which crashed against the crossbar, before Philliskirk's spin and shot across goal was pushed away brilliantly by Carroll. Then came ex-County man Forte's header.

It was a cold afternoon at SportsDirect.com Park, for sure, but Athletic were suitably cool and composed and can reasonably start looking up towards the top six again.