Notts. County 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0

Last updated : 13 April 2004 By Footymad Previewer

The biggest Meadow Lane crowd since November 2002 were treated to a poor local derby.

Wednesday had the better of the first half when Notts looked to be suffering from a hangover following their 4-1 pasting at Colchester on Saturday.

The second half was a different story as Notts were altogether sharper and, in the dying moments, had the game's best scoring chance.

Leading Notts marksman Paul Heffernan should have found the net for the 20th time in the League programme, but shot too early and failed to trouble Wednesday goalkeeper Kevin Pressman whose movement had been impaired after a nasty earlier clash with Notts substitute Steve Scoffham.

Scoffham had replaced David McGoldrick early in the second half after McGoldrick - only 16 - had made his first Meadow Lane start.

It was nearly a dream for him as he took two early chances to fire the ball at Pressman who each time saved, diving to his right.

Wednesday countered with some neat football and although they stretched the Notts defence, and found some ominous gaps, they scarcely ever really troubled Stuart Garden in the Notts goal.

The longer the game went the more fiery it became and it boiled over with the late dismissal of Wednesday midfielder Alan Quinn, who had been booked for a first-half foul and then saw red for bringing down Scoffham on the edge of the area.

There were other tense moments as well and it was somewhat surprising that only two other players were cautioned, one of them County's outstanding man David Pipe.

The right-back, on loan from Coventry City, made one heroic late challenge to deny Wednesday an almost certain goal and after the game went into talks with Notts manager Gary Mills with a view to a permanent transfer.

If that does not materialise, Pipe has played his last game for Notts.

The Easter period of one point out of six has raised the third division trapdoor for Notts who have won only once in their last eight outings.

The defiant Mills said afterwards that they faced a massive game at Hartlepool on Saturday - he was probably sensing that if Notts do not get all the points there they are doomed to the drop.