Despite taking his tally into double figures for the season, Luke Williams insisted Notts County striker Macaulay Langstaff was still fuming with his performance.
The National League’s record goalscorer from last term scored two more in the Magpies’ 3-0 win over Newport – taking his tally to 11 for the campaign.
But Langstaff could have had a hat-trick late in the second half, only to be denied by a superb challenge by Matt Baker.
“I was so impressed with the quality and his work-rate,” Williams said on the striker’s display.
“I’m not surprised that the first words he said to me was that he was ‘fuming’ because he didn’t score a hat-trick – he said ‘I’m more disappointed that I didn’t score a hat-trick than I am happy that I scored two’ and that’s why he is a goalscoring machine.”
In a comfortable game which keeps Notts County within touching two points of leaders Stockport, Williams gave his assessment of how the game unfolded at Meadow Lane.
“It was a good display, very professional. It probably petered out in the end. We pretty much controlled the game until the end, it’s probably not as much fun for the fans but it was better for my blood pressure.”
The next challenge for the Magpies will see a reunion with Wrexham – the side that pipped Williams’ side to the National League title in an enthralling campaign in the fifth tier.
The Magpies boss expressed the importance of the fixture, but insisted the encounter would be more interesting for those outside of the two sides involved in the clash.
“We know it’s a huge game, but it’s probably a bigger game for everybody watching than both the teams involved – for the teams involved, all the games are huge.”
Newport head coach Graham Coughlan bemoaned his side’s performance on another difficult night for the Welsh outfit – acknowledging his side came up against a quality outfit but questioning his players and their mentality.
“We came up against a real quality team, they possess a lot of quality that we don’t have, and it was a difficult night all round.
“One or two of our players didn’t show up, but overall, I was wanting more quality in the final third because we had some good chances when we won the ball back high up.
“But again, it’s the same old story, we are leaking goals, not good enough in defence, making too many mistakes and can’t keep clean sheets and that’s the disappointing part of it.
“They have the quality to punish you and they have punished quite a lot of teams here – if you make mistakes against good teams, they will hurt you.”
Bayern Munich 3-0 Augsburg: Hat-trick hero Kane smashes Bundesliga record
Harry Kane scored a hat-trick to become the quickest player to score 50 Bundesliga goals as Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched Augsburg 3-0 on Friday.
Kane opened the scoring in the 63rd with a penalty before netting a quickfire double in second-half stoppage time to smash the record previously held by Erling Haaland.
Despite controlling the early possession, Bayern were unable to make their dominance count, with Nediljko Labrovic rarely troubled in the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts maintained their dominance after the interval, with Leon Goretzka's looped header grazing the crossbar before Jamal Musiala went close soon after.
However, Bayern were awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR review saw Mads Pedersen penalised for handling the ball, with Kane stepping up to score from 12 yards.
The England captain grabbed his second of the game in the third-minute of stoppage time following another VAR review which saw Keven Schlotterbeck sent off after tripping Kane inside the box.
Kane sent Labrovic the wrong way but was not to be denied a fourth treble of the season, brilliantly taking down Goretzka's searching ball before heading the ball home.
Data Debrief: HurriKane
Kane has now scored 50 Bundesliga goals in 43 matches. Before him, Haaland was the quickest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals, having done so in 50 appearances in the competition for Borussia Dortmund.
He is also the quickest to reach that total for Bayern by some distance. Kane has reached that tally quicker than the likes of Gerd Muller (83 games), Mario Gomez (71 games), Roy Makaay (67 games) and Robert Lewandowski (64 games).
10 of Kane’s goals have come from penalties, while 32 of them have been with his right foot, nine with his left and nine with his head.
Messi 'will be our No.10 in 2026', hopes Inter Miami chief Mas
Inter Miami fully expect Lionel Messi to remain at the club beyond his current contract ahead of the 2026 MLS season.
Those were the words of Miami's club managing owner, Jorge Mas, who was speaking to the media following Gerardo Martino's resignation earlier on Friday.
Messi joined the MLS side in July 2023 on a two-and-a-half-year contract, leading the Herons to the Supporters' Shield and Leagues Cup during his time in the United States so far.
His current deal is due to expire at the end of next year, though Mas made clear his desire to see Messi remain with the Herons at Miami Freedom Park, the club's new stadium that will open in 2026.
"He’s under contract through 2025. Leo and I will sit, and we’ll discuss the future,” Mas said.
“As I’ve said before, and I will repeat it now: I fully expect that in the opening of our new stadium in 2026 in Miami and the opening of our 2026 season, hopefully after a trophy-laden 2025 season, that Lionel Messi will be our No. 10.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
