Soccer
Notts County boss Martin Paterson hails his team’s display in win at Harrogate
Alassana Jatta’s matchwinning brace secured Notts County a 2-0 win at Harrogate – but manager Martin Paterson insisted he needed to share the plaudits with his team-mates.
The Gambia international moved on to 15 goals for the season – one more than strike partner Matthew Dennis – to help the Magpies move into the Sky Bet League Two automatic promotion places following the lunchtime kick-off.
Paterson, though, also hailed the “very professional” efforts of those around Jatta, as Notts bounced back from their disappointing 3-0 midweek defeat at Oldham, meaning the Meadow Lane outfit have still not tasted back-to-back losses since August.
He said: “It’s always good to have people who can take their moments and we have that with people like AJ, Matthew Dennis and Lee (Ndlovu). AJ took his two goals fantastically well, but it’s the team that run and compete to create those moments for him.
“Were we brilliant and exceptional in all phases throughout the game? Probably not but we were very professional in all of them.
“It’s coming to a point in the season where everything is heightened and there is more importance placed on every game and we made some good corrections from previous performances in certain areas of the field but it’s only three points and nobody will be whooping it up after this win.
“I know it’s a boring statement, but we don’t get too high and we don’t get too low. After a defeat or a win, we just focus on working hard to get better and move forward again.”
Harrogate boss Simon Weaver, meanwhile, admitted his team are crying out for a striker of Jatta or Dennis’ ilk to profit from the honest endeavour of his struggling side.
League Two’s lowest goalscorers have only netted 29 times and been mired in the bottom two since mid-December and Weaver said: “Their lad (Jatta) showed his pedigree and banged his goals in and that’s what they’ve got in that area of the pitch.
“We don’t fear any team. There was a time – in October and November – when we looked way short of what was needed but, now, we are just short on goals.
“We have talented attacking players and hungry animals in our changing room. There are no rats in there, but we need to find a consistent cutting edge.
“The windy conditions were difficult for both teams but we had more possession than we’ve probably ever had against Notts County, because they’ve always been a good footballing team and I would have just liked to create more chances and test their keeper more, especially in the first half.
“We had a few moments and played some good football for large parts but, on the whole, there wasn’t enough intensity on their goal.”
