We take a look at how the press reviewed the 2-1 win over Wrexham at the weekend; Ian McParland's first win as Notts County Manager with reports by both camps' local papers.

Neil MacKenzie's injury-time free-kick secured the points after the game looked to be heading for a draw after Silvio Spann's long-range drive cancelled out Spencer Weir-Daley's opener.

Nottingham Evening Post Report by Stevie Roden

Many people question who would be a manager, such is the pressure, and Saturday's first home game in charge would have seen Ian "Charlie" McParland go through the whole range of emotions.

But, crucially, it ended in three points and with McParland halting a club run of four successive defeats to ensure he had an enjoyable weekend.

In his programme notes, the Scotsman said had he finished his career as a coach having never had a crack at management, he would always wonder how he would have fared. But the way he celebrated Neil MacKenzie's injury-time free kick to win the match, then hugged all his staff and players after securing three points, showed there is no substitute for that winning feeling. That is why McParland wants to be a manager. He is a winner and going through all those emotions are worth it when it ends in victory.

But boy did Notts leave it late. Spencer Weir-Daley had capitalised on a mistake by Steve Evans early on, pounced in the box, rounded goalkeeper Anthony Williams and slotted in for the opener.

But problems arose 20 minutes from time, after the performance had dipped in the second half. Wrexham, fighting for their lives themselves, equalised.

Notts had two players - Myles Weston and Richard Butcher - waiting to return to the pitch after treatment when Wrexham took a throw-in, spread the ball to substitute Silvio Spann and he cut inside before firing a superb effort from distance into the far corner.

It looked as though Notts were to be denied the win and McParland would have another week waiting for that first victory, for those vital three points to move the Magpies up the League Two table. But his introduction of Hector Sam for Weir-Daley with three minutes of normal time remaining proved decisive.

The powerful frontman won a free kick within seconds on the corner of the box but when that came to nothing he appeared to be wrestled to the ground in the box by two defenders, but the referee did not give a penalty.

His reward came though on the stroke of full-time when he went clear beyond the defence and was brought down on the edge of the box by Spann, who was sent off. It was inches outside the area and the only reward was a free kick, but it did not matter, thanks to a composed Neil MacKenzie who curled the ball round the wall and into the top corner.

A superb finish. A superb ending for Charlie. A vital three points. It could not have been left any later, but it was the perfect finish for the manager's first home game in charge.

And there was plenty more for him to look back on and learn from this week. He was not afraid to make changes after losing his first game to Mansfield, although he only had his players for a hour before that game.

A week of training has seen McParland and assistant Dave Kevan working on many things, with Myles Weston coming in on the left wing and Matt Somner adding more steel to the midfield.

And it paid off. Somner's industry in the middle broke down play and ensured Wrexham never had a minute on the ball, while Weston showed glimpses of what he is capable of. The flying winger has been out for two months with hamstring problems, but got his first start and impressed.

Although at times the end product failed him, he grew as the game went on. In the first half , when MacKenzie gave the ball away in the middle of the park, Weston demonstrated a work-rate instilled in the whole team as he used his speed to rob the midfielder of the ball.

And when he received the ball back from a one-two, he lined it up and struck a thunderous 25-yard shot that saw Anthony Williams at full stretch to tip round his left-hand post.

In the second half the 19-year-old combined with Paul Mayo down the left constantly and as well as once firing a shot at the goalkeeper, they delivered some dangerous balls into the box between them.

Notts broke in the second half, thanks to superb vision from Richard Butcher who switched from right to left to free Weston. When he picked out Somner, the midfielder's shot went just over the bar.

But Wrexham had their chances. In the first half Kevin Pilkington showed his alertness. Spann curled in a low free kick and Richard Hope struck a strong shot, but Pilkington displayed superb reflexes to tip over his bar.

That came after Spann had fired wide. Spender also picked out Neil Roberts at the far post but when headed back across goal, the advancing Chris Llewellyn nodded wide.

The first half was a good display by Notts as they tried to play football, but McParland was unhappy with the second-half performance as they looked nervy at times and came undone too easily for his liking.

Notts had a let-off when Pilkington came to punch clear but failed to get distance. It fell to Spann and he fired past the goalkeeper but en-route to goal the ball struck Eifion Williams and went out. It was a piece of good fortune although Wrexham equalised soon after.

But thanks to MacKenzie's late free kick, finished impeccably, the Magpies won to get his side back to winning ways. It will give the whole place another lift and confidence, which McParland admitted had been fragile when he arrived, will have been restored.

McParland has warned it will take time. The three points on Saturday were the start of a long road ahead and the only thoughts now are to keep picking up points to pull away from danger.

McParland may have been joint caretaker boss with Frank Barlow over the river a few seasons ago and this may be his first job in sole charge. It's a stressful world, a pressure cooker world, but one McParland has the bug for.

While Saturday would have had the heart pounding, it was the perfect finish for his first return to Meadow Lane.

Wrexham Daily Post Report by Mark Currie

A FOOTBALL fan of the half-full glass persuasion might argue that the only way is up after Wrexham slumped to the bottom of the Football League following Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Notts County.

Whether or not Racecourse boss Brian Carey will remain in charge long enough to fulfil that expectation remains to be seen and the big Irishman curtly refused to discuss his future in the aftermath of a ninth defeat from the Dragons' opening 12 matches of the season.

But everything he did say pointed towards a determination to carry on, a stance which puts the ball very firmly in the court of the people who matter, directors Neville Dickens and Geoff Moss. So who blinks first?

As it happened, the Meadow Lane clash marked Ian McParland's first home match in charge of the Magpies following his arrival 10 days earlier, making him the ninth manager of the club since a certain Sam Allardyce left in 1999.

That's right, McParland is the ninth occupant of the County hot seat in just eight seasons and none of those predecessors have done much, if anything, to halt the gradual decline in fortunes of the country's oldest league club.

It took Wrexham 39 years to get through as many bosses as successive boards of directors generally exercised patience and faith in their appointees, a rule of thumb policy which made the sudden decision to axe Denis Smith in January all the more surprising.

But for the new custodians of the club it possibly represented an opportunity to sever the final links with Wrexham's well-documented troubles and heralded the prospect of a renaissance under the wing of a bright new manager.

Given the resources to do the job, Carey has almost doubled the size of the squad that was ever available to Smith during his five years in charge, yet by any measure there has been little or no evident improvement where it counts.

Spoiled for choice, perhaps, it seems the Racecourse boss has seemed unable to discern exactly what his best side is, an argument reinforced by the recent, unexplained absence of mobile defender Shaun Pejic and a Meadow Lane start for Steve Evans for the first time in a month at the expense of Mike Williams, who was one of the better performers against Barnet last week.

With Robbie Garrett returning after suspension to midfield, Silvio Spann was relegated to the bench until an injury to the out-of-sorts Mark Jones brought him into the fray after less than 30 minutes and, less surprisingly, Michael Proctor made way for Eifion Williams to be given his first start in six weeks.

Whatever his criteria, though, Carey has a right to expect a performance from whichever side he puts out and, given the soul-searching that went on after last week's Racecourse debacle, he was again badly let down by his players in the opening 45 minutes at Meadow Lane.

Man for man the home side were half a yard faster, they won the 50-50 and the second balls and their movement and passing, particularly when they switched it from flank to flank, kept the Dragons on the back foot.

Quite what went on in the dressing room at the break it's impossible to say, but Wrexham came out a different side and dominated the second half for long spells to just about justify Carey's contention that they should have taken at least a point.

All of which is a conundrum for his employers, who know better than anyone that results must improve while at the same time wondering just how long they can wait for their man to justify their faith in him.

Another vote of confidence yesterday - Dickens echoing supportive comments from Moss a week ago - is all about stability at the helm. But with difficult derbies against Shrewsbury next weekend and Chester just beyond, it could be the long-suffering fans whose verdict will ultimately carry the most weight.

And those who made the cross-country trek to Nottingham weren't given much in the way of promise during a first half that must have seen Carey squirming with embarrassment on the touchline.

County were camped around the Dragons' penalty area from the off and the visitors were fortunate that an unmarked Stephen Hunt snatched at an eighth minute shot after Wrexham had failed to react to a quickly-taken corner.

Steve Evans also had to make a commendable last-ditch tackle on the County captain, but the Welsh international then blotted his copybook big style in the 16th minute.

Under little pressure his lazy attempt to play the ball to goalkeeper Anthony Williams was seized upon by Spencer Weir-Daley, who had the simplest of tasks to roll the ball into an empty net.

Williams, back in the side because of an injury to Michael Jones, made an excellent save from Myles Weston before the visitors posed a first threat midway through the half, Neil Roberts laying off a Simon Spender cross that Chris Llewellyn was unable to turn in.

But it was fate rather than a conscious touchline decision that gave Wrexham the impetus they were missing when Mark Jones retired hurt after 28 minutes to be replaced by Spann.

The Trinidad international, who is still coming to terms with his new environment did not make an instant impact, but he picked out Richard Hope a minute before the break and the big defender's shot was turned away for a corner by Kevin Pilkington.

It set the stage for a much-improved showing from the restart, Spann and Spender linking on the right to cause panic in the home defence where either Hope and Eifion Williams might have poked in an equaliser.

Pilkington was solidly behind a speculative volley from Garrett and dealt just as easily with a timid header from Steve Evans, but luck was on his side in the 64th minute when he mishandled a cross and Spann's goalbound drive took a deflection wide off the boot of Eifion Williams.

Carey's bold decision to send on Matty Done in place of Steve Evans was tested as both Matt Somner and Weston had chances to double County's advantage, but it was the visitors who made the decisive thrust in the 70th minute, Spann hammering the ball low past Pilkington from outside the penalty area to notch his first goal for the club.

It should have been the catalyst for Wrexham to up the ante, but a facial injury to Spender 11 minutes from time prompted the influential midfielder to slot into a defensive role and in the 90th minute, Magpies substitute Hector Sam returned to haunt his former club.

The striker broke clear and with only the keeper to beat, was hauled down by his fellow countryman on the edge of the penalty area.

Spann was shown red card and Neil Mackenzie rubbed salt into Wrexham's wounds by arrowing his free kick into the top corner, a free shot that hinted at poor judgement in the positioning of the defensive wall.