Oldham Athletic stretched their unbeaten away run with their most convincing performance of the season - and it cannot be coincidence that it came on the first appearance of the season of midfield supremo Darren Sheridan.
Sheridan's penalty for being sent off last season in all four League and Cup competitions was a lengthy ban which he has only just completed.
Though not fully match fit Oldham boss Ian Dowie had no hesitation about plunging him straight into the starting line-up and his influence was obvious from the start.
Oldham pressed Notts back but were unable to find a way through and fell behind against the run of play.
Darren Caskey was fouled, flighted the free kick perfectly himself and young Paul Hessernan was left unmarked to head through.
The lead was short-lived as Notts failed to line up their defensive wall properly when Nick Fenton needlessly conceded a free kick from just outside the penalty area.
The sweet left foot of David Eyres carried the ball straight into the back of Stuart Garden's net.
Two minutes later Garden was picking the ball out of the net again after a superb Oldham move which finished with Sheridan gliding into the box and driving the ball low into the net.
Notts had been well out-played and looked no better at the start of the second half and, although Oldham did not achieve the same tempo as previously, they deserved a third goal. Great work by Josh Low was finished off by Chris Killen, whose effort was deflected away from Garden.
Low emerged as Oldham's best player over the whole 90 minutes though Sheridan's role could not be under-estimated.
Notts manager Billy Dearden asked his players afterwards whether they had the necessary bottle to win in front of their own fans. Out of four home games they have led three of them but failed to win any of the four, taking only two points out of a possible 12.
Dearden, who started his own playing career at Oldham, was clearly concerned afterwards because the two teams meet again on Tuesday in the Worthington Cup.
HASH(0x8ff1ed0)