Kalezic Secures County Win

Darije Kalezic and Stuart Watkiss got their County campaigns off to a winning start with a hard fought 3-2 victory over relegation rivals Nuneaton Town.

Nuneaton had beaten County earlier in the season and County were out for revenge, Kalezic stuck with a similar team to the one Alan Lord had picked against Forest Green – which County also won.

The only change was Mainwairing coming in for the injured Sam Sheridan, otherwise we were much the same. New signings Jon Macken and Mark Cullen both took up places on the bench – interestingly there was no place on the bench for Middlesbrough loanee Jake Fowler.

It looked as though it was going to be a rout early on, as Jennings converted a cross from Whitehead and then Hattersley tapped in from close range to make it 2-0 to County inside the first ten minutes.

I had a small wager on 5-0 at 100/1 and fancied my chances! The big question was would we keep a clean sheet? The answer to that was a resounding no as Nuneaton hit back with two quick fire goals of their own to bring the game back level.

Adam Walker put in a good cross from the left hand side and Andy Brown got in front of Tunnicliffe, and the Brown got his second as he headed home to make it 2-2 after just 18 minutes.

It was pretty much tit for tat for the rest of the first half, no side having a clear cut chance to take the lead and the game went into half time at 2-2.

Hattersley was brought off as Kalezic made his first move as manager and he brought on Mark Cullen, on loan from Hull City, to lead the County line.

Andy Halls did well with his goal-line block to stop Nuneaton taking the lead, but County’s deserved winner came from a half cleared corner and a wonderful Jon Nolan volley from just inside the penalty area to give County the 3-2 lead.

Another change made by Kalezic saw Macken brought on for Whitehead, and the experienced front man used his experience to guide County through to the end of the game and gain another vital three points.

County are sure to face a much tougher task against Wrexham next Saturday, but with the new man at the helm who knows what could happen?