A glimmer of respite was secured for Notts County in the form of a fourth-round date at home to Wigan Athletic on Saturday, but the next 72 hours will be crucial not only for the continued involvement of Sven-G?ran Eriksson at Meadow Lane but for the immediate financial fortunes of the oldest Football League club.
Lee Hughes ensured that a third successive FA Cup exit to non-League opponents was avoided with his nineteenth goal of the season. However, the days leading up to this weekend’s tie look set to be considerably more nervy than this far from straightforward victory against Forest Green Rovers, of the Blue Square Premier.
Eriksson, the director of football, and Peter Trembling, the executive chairman, have scoured Europe for potential investors to succeed the the Munto Finance consortium and it is understood that a group of Norwegian businessmen represent their final, indeed only hope.
County expect a resolution by the end of the week and Trembling remains optimistic, but failure will bring serious repercussions. The club have a date at the High Court on Tuesday over a £600,000 tax bill and if they fail to complete a takeover by the weekend the ramifications could be grave. It is believed that the threat of administration cannot be discounted.
The tension off the field appeared to have been transmitted on to it as County started edgily in only their third game in nearly six weeks, following a string of postponements. They did not test their opponents until the 20th minute, when Terry Burton, the Forest Green goalkeeper, almost spilled Hughes’s tame effort from distance.
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Rovers, with only one away win all season and appearing doomed to a grim struggle of their own in the shape of a relegation battle, were the sharper of the two sides without managing to create any openings of significance in a sterile first 45 minutes.
With the incentive on offer of gate receipts from an encounter in the next round with Barclays Premier League opponents, County were significantly improved in the second period and Graeme Lee, the defender, struck the crossbar moments before they took the lead. Burton’s handling was again suspect as he fumbled a drive from Ben Davies into the path of Stephen Hunt, who could not miss.
Dismal memories of exits to Havant & Waterlooville and Kettering Town in the past twoyears were revived when Isaiah Rankin found the net after a long kick from Burton, but Hughes produced an excellent finish, lobbing Burton from 20 yards, to ease the pressure — on the field, at least.
Notts County (4-4-2): K Schmeichel — J Thompson, G Lee, S Hunt, J Jackson — C Westcarr (sub: M Hamshaw, 70min), R Ravenhill, N Bishop, B Davies — L Hughes, K Hawley (sub: L Rodgers, 74). Substitutes not used: R Hoult, M Edwards, B Fairclough, J Clapham, A Akinbiyi.
Forest Green (4-4-2): T Burton — J Hodgkiss, M Preece, J O’Cearuill, P Stonehouse — D Powell (sub: T Berry, 87), D Brown, J Smith, C Platt (sub: J Else, 90) — T Ameobi, I Rankin. Substitutes not used: T Pass, J Winter, S Davies, C Henry, B Osman.
Referee: F Graham.