Notts County’s first-half display one of best this season – Martin Paterson

Martin Paterson hailed Notts County’s first-half performance as one of their best displays so far this season after they earned a 2-1 League Two win at Cheltenham to move up to third.

Goals before the break from Alassana Jatta and Tyrese Hall put them firmly on course before a second-half improvement from the hosts and Isaac Hutchinson’s strike set up an exciting finish.

But County had done enough to condemn the Robins to their first league defeat since Steve Cotterill returned as manager at the end of September.

“When you come to Cheltenham, historically it’s a tough place to come and people forget that sometimes when you look at league positions because it’s far too early to be looking at those,” he said.

“They have an experienced manager (Steve Cotterill) who has been at the very top and been around it for 1,000 games.

“He changed shape in the second half and it was as great move from him because it did put us under pressure and I had to counteract it.

“But the first half was one of the best we’ve played so I’m pleased with the lads. Second half, because of their improvement, we struggled a little bit and they shaded it a little.”

County dominated the opening 45 minutes and Joe Day had to beat away an effort from Scott Robertson in the 12th minute.

Jatta opened the scoring in the 23rd minute after a corner from Keanan Bennetts on the left was not dealt with, allowing the forward to stroke the ball low into the net.

Hall finished well after a sharp turn – four minutes later – to make it 2-0 after Nick Tsaroulla’s pass.

Tsaroulla nearly made it three with a diving header which hit the post, 10 minutes before half-time.

Cheltenham improved after the break and Ryan Broom’s cross was met by Hutchinson, who saw his first shot blocked, but he made no mistake with his follow-up.

Broom had to clear Lewis Macari’s header off the line to deny County a third, but they had done enough for maximum points.

Cotterill admitted Cheltenham’s slow start cost them dear.

“I don’t think we got going really in the first half, which is probably when we’ve lost the game,” he said.

“In the second half, we were really good, but you can’t waste 45 minutes at any stage. If we’d have played like that for the 90 minutes, I think we’d have probably won the game.

“I thanked them for their efforts because I can tell they are hurting in there. I can feel it from them and that’s a big disappointment for them.

“We’ll be ready to go again at the weekend.”