Two sent off as Butler stars in heated victory for North Notts

Butler scored two goals, to take his league tally for the season to 18, and set up the other as North Notts beat close rivals Ashby 3-1 to inch above them into third spot in the East Midlands Premier Division table.

But the match was marred by the dismissals of veteran James Barton for what was adjudged to be a stick tackle under the umpire’s nose, and of an Ashby forward for a torrent of expletives at the umpire after a decision had gone against him.

And it also undoubtedly hinged on a decision early in the second half when, just after reducing the deficit from 2-0 to 2-1, Ashby thought they’d equalised when a forward beat Matthew Cooper, pulled back his stick and slotted the ball home. However, the away side were enraged when the umpire ruled out the goal after spotting an earlier infringement.

For the next 20 minutes, the game really ebbed and flowed from one end to the other. North Notts always looked likely to punish Ashby on the break, especially when James Latta was introduced, but not until the dying minutes did they finally seal the points. Moments after the visitors’ sending-off, good work by Butler saw the ball fall to Latta, who finished well for a well-deserved goal.

The final whistle brought relief, with North Notts manager Jay Faulkner delighted his side had avenged defeat at the hands of the same side on the opening day of the season.

“We were very keen to win this game, especially as we gave a poor account of ourselves in the reverse fixture,” Faulkner said. “We had a game-plan and stuck to it tremendously. Special credit has to go to the wide midfielders, who worked tirelessly.”

North Notts had warmed up for the match with a resounding 9-2 win over local rivals Mansfield in a friendly the previous week. And they were out of the traps quickly here as a clever routine from a short corner led to Butler firing them in front in the fifth minute.

The rest of the first half was largely stalemate before Butler struck again two minutes into the second period after terrific work by Josh Singleton.