There may be a few sore heads waking up on the Devonshire coast this morning, and perhaps some sore legs in the Notts County camp following their encounter with Torquay at Plainmoor yesterday afternoon.
The Magpies produced a battling display at the home of the Gulls to maintain their advantage at the summit of the National League, with Ruben Rodrigues' third penalty in a week cancelling out Tom Lapslie's equaliser after Macaulay Langstaff opened the scoring.
While Torquay is renowned for its calm beaches and picturesque setting, the encounter at Plainmoor was anything but, with Luke Williams' side winning ugly in a fiery encounter.
READ MORE: Luke Williams addresses refereeing performance and importance of Notts County substitutions
Here are the key talking points from another memorable Notts away day.
Influential decisions
Where to start? The fixture at Plainmoor was a feisty encounter with an unusual rivalry blossoming between the two sides in recent years.
And the intent from Gary Johnson's side was clear, producing several strong challenges early on as their aggressive approach was rewarded by disrupting Notts' possession in the opening exchanges of the fixture.
But when Ryan Hanson clattered into Connell Rawlinson, referee Paul Johnson finally produced the first caution of the game in an attempt to calm the game down and try to keep every player on the pitch.
However, his authority on the fixture soon dwindled as the half progressed, with several challenges going unpunished, with Hanson having two more challenges worthy of a second booking waved away, including a cynical challenge on Rodrigues in the middle of the park, subsequently resulting in his substitution much to the frustration of the Magpies boss.
That ultimately set the tone for the afternoon, with nine yellow cards brandished during the contest, causing frustration amongst both sets of fans on multiple occasions.
And one decision that could prove costly and could have been prevented was the sending off of Rodrigues - with Johnson failing to play a clear advantage after a foul in a Magpies attack, resulting in John Bostock's free-kick that ended with Rodrigues' handball despite not affecting a potential route to goal with the ball going out of play.
Another Gulls player fortunate to be on the pitch was goal scorer Lapslie, after being booked for the foul on Aaron Nemane in the box, the midfielder escaped a second booking for another poorly timed challenge.
Ultimately those decisions affected the game, with the Magpies having to dig deep and put on a resilient display for the final half an hour, sparking huge celebrations at full-time after a battling team performance.
Lively Langstaff
While everyone is quick to highlight Macaulay Langstaff's importance to this Magpies side through his goals, there is no denying the work rate and determination in his play, evident in his performance against Gary Johnson's side yesterday afternoon.
The National League's top scorer added to his tally for the season with arguably his best goal in a Notts shirt, doing brilliantly to control Connell Rawlinson's cross before swivelling onto his left foot and arrowing a shot beyond Mark Halstead right in front of the travelling Notts fans.
The forward continued to look lively throughout, chasing lost causes and leading the line like a true number nine, but his performance after going down to ten men was quite simply tremendous.
An example of this was just minutes after Rodrigues' sending off - with possession lost in the final third, Langstaff with gritted teeth sprinted after the advancing Torquay player, winning possession back and allowing Notts to regain possession at a time in the contest when the pressure was mounting on the visitors.
His substitution ten minutes from the end was purely down to his work rate and how tireless he had been all afternoon, with his replacement Cedwyn Scott also putting in an influential showing by chasing down the long balls from the Magpies' defence and trying to frustrate to Gulls defence in the latter stages.
Langstaff once again proved why he is not only the best striker in the division but also the hardest-working number nine in the National League too.
Slocombe involvement
With the game goalless just shy of the half-hour mark, the visitors were starting to mount some pressure of their own after withstanding Notts' early dominance, particularly in possession.
The hosts had threatened in the early exchanges, but an awkward ball into the area was their first real opportunity for an opening, with Rawlinson's backward header forcing Sam Slocombe to produce an outstanding save to tip the ball over the bar and keep the scores level - with Langstaff opening the scoring just eight minutes later.
It was the first of many important contributions from the Notts number one, with Slocombe again timing a challenge to absolute perfection, winning both the ball and clattering the man in the process to relieve the pressure Johnson's side was creating.
While feeling aggrieved at the players in front of him that resulted in Lapslie's equaliser, there was a sense of confidence with the ball at his feet, producing some incisive and accurate passes into midfield when under pressure and taking his time with overhit balls to get his side over the line.
The statistics do not lie as Slocombe is on course to win the league's Golden Glove, and his involvements yesterday proved pivotal in picking up another vital three points in the National League title race.
Chesterfield predicament
With one huge away game out of the way yesterday, another one beckons as the Magpies travel to the Technique Stadium next weekend to take on Chesterfield.
Williams' side opened up a 19-point gap between themselves and the Spireites following their defeat to Boreham Wood on Saturday afternoon - with the opportunity there to further their advantage with a win.
But given the events of the Magpies' win at Plainmoor, they will be without their Portuguese talisman and have no way of appealing the decision with the offence being a second bookable one.
This gives Williams the decision of how to overcome that bizarre booking in the build-up to next week, but it's quick to forget how blessed Notts are in that position, with a plethora of options available to field in Rodrigues' absence.
In their previous fixture at Meadow Lane, substitute Sam Austin proved the difference with two assists for Langstaff's quickfire double following his introduction, and he seems destined to start following his recent form.
Another player who could be used in that position is newest recruit Jodi Jones, with the Oxford loanee producing another encouraging display yesterday afternoon as he continues to get up to speed and gel with his new team-mates.
Who would you start against Chesterfield in Rodrigues' absence? Let us know in the comments!
Breaking Plainmoor curse
The phrase 'bogey team' is often thrown around in football, and you could consider Torquay that team for Notts if their form at Plainmoor is anything to go by.
Before their win yesterday, the Magpies had taken just one point from their previous three visits to the Devonshire coast, with their previous visit ending in a 5-1 defeat to all but end their automatic playoff hopes.
But this isn't any ordinary Notts team, this is Luke Williams' Notts County, with his side producing a different type of performance on their way to another important three points.
If results define a season, then this could be one of those. To overcome an abysmal refereeing display and to perform so courageously against a tough opposition with a man less, is a credit to everyone at the football club, none more so than the Magpies boss.
