Notts County 1-0 Stevenage
- Published
Jeff Hughes scored an injury-time winner as Notts County beat Stevenage in Keith Curle's first game in charge.
Jonathan Forte fired over from long range and Alan Judge hit the bar for Notts, while Chris Beardsley went close for the visitors in the first half.
Second-half substitute Don Cowan missed a great chance for Stevenage, before Kieron Freeman forced a great save from Chris Day at the other end.
Two minutes into injury time, Hughes's strike from 16 yards won it for Notts.
The Magpies climb a place to 10th and are now five points adrift of sixth-placed Stevenage.
VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Notts County manager Keith Curle told BBC Radio Nottingham:
Curle credits players for victory
"I think it's not a big three points for me, I think credit where credit's due, it's a big three points for the changing room.
"They've been through a lot - a lot of emotions - a very sensitive time for the football club and I've tried to leave the players alone as much as possible, give them a little bit of shape and a little bit of direction.
"I said to them before the game, everything that happens today in the game is for their reward."
Stevenage manager Gary Smith told BBC Three Counties Radio:
Boro needed more up front - Smith
"It's not a nice feeling, I know that. There's that sickening, gut-wrenching moment as it goes into the back of the net with 30 seconds to go, which is not nice at all.
"I thought the second-half performance was better than the first.
"When you look at the opportunities that came our way - I know Chris Day made some very decent saves himself - but we could have been in front.
"In the end, we haven't done enough in front of goal to secure our point when really I thought we deserved a point at least."