Match 36 - Hartlepool (a)
This will be a match that is mourned more for the loss of Callum Roberts than the nature of the defeat.
Ian Burchnall, with the exception of bringing Kyle Wotton back into the starting eleven at the expense of Elisha Sam, kept faith with the team that won at Woking. Unfortunately Hartlepool were clearly a very different proposition and proved good value for their elevated position in the league.
Ian Burchnall was forced into making an early change bringing on Lewis Knight for the unfortunate Regan Griffiths in an attempt to force back the high line faced by the Hartlepool back 3 and in turn hoping to cut out the supply to the wide men which had resulted in way too many crosses being allowed into the Magpies box.
Despite going a goal down on the stroke of half time Notts rallied in the second half and were buoyed by the addition of Callum Roberts and Dion Kelly-Evans on 70 minutes. However anticipation of an equaliser soon turned to despair amongst the Notts ranks as Roberts pulled up again with his recurring abdominal injury resulting in him having to leave the pitch looking visibly distraught.
Down to ten men and with no more subs available Notts continued to press for an equaliser but poor marking from another set piece was to be their undoing once again as Hartlepool put the game to bed with a second goal late on.
Progress updated and I've now removed the Dover game from this visualisation so we have a better indication of projected league position based on the logarithmic trend line.
Results tracker updated now with a line that provides another visualisation for progress throughout the season based on 'win' = 2, 'draw' = 1 and 'loss' = -1.
Points needed now with adjusted targets to represent predicted points totals for the current season. Following the defeat at Hartlepool Notts are now projected to finish between 3rd and 7th place. You can filter the chart by clicking on the legends at the top.
League segment chart updated. Grey bar shows total points available for that segment. Green bar shows total points gained and yellow bar the PPG for that segment.
The defeat at Dover is still included in this visual (matches 1-6). No points yet for the first game in this 6 game segment.
Points by time segment. How many points would have been accumulated if games had finished at 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 minutes.
The pattern continues to confirm the current trend of Notts performing poorly in the first half of games. If games finished at half time Notts would have secured 12 points less than they actually have.
Onto player stats now and remember you can use the search function to see individual players or click on a column heading to sort highest to lowest etc.
Minutes played updated:
Goal contribution table updated. Again, you can find this on the website and sort columns etc.
Goal participation by minute detailing player goal contribution efficiency.
Goals scatter chart updated. Starting to see a few more dots outside the box.
Goals by time segment updated.
xG now and despite the bombardment faced from Hartlepool's flanks in the first half and the chances created, actual attempts on goal were surprisingly limited.
There was an opportunity against the run of play for Notts to take the league on 35 minutes when Kyle Wootton headed narrowly over from Regan Griffiths' cross which could have changed the whole dynamic of the game.
Breakdown below of the key xG stats and despite the final score line Notts' improved second half meant the game was actually much tighter than result would suggest.
Player xG stats below and the Wootton chance in the first half was the biggest opportunity.
Ian Burchnall's record updated.
