HE WAS, quite simply, a Pole apart.
Bartosz Bialkowski was the hero for Notts County in a 0-0 draw at Swindon Town in League One and, even more amazingly, he produced his best performance for the club this season after a spending a sleepless and frightening Friday night in the Queen's Medical Centre with his baby daughter.
She had a dangerously high temperature and it was only after she was stable on Saturday morning that the Magpies' No.1 decided to go to sub-zero Swindon.
The trip felt more like an expedition to the South Pole and it is a good job Bialkowski was there because the young goalkeeper was in top form at the County Ground, making super save after super save to almost single-handedly deny the Robins.
He has produced some fine performances since joining Notts at the start of this season and this was the best of them all. He looked unbeatable.
His two best saves came in the space of 11 minutes in the second half.
Both times the Robins looked certain to finally break the deadlock, and the Magpies' hearts, but Bialkowski refused to be beaten.
First he tipped a point-blank range header from Swindon striker Adam Rooney onto his left-hand post on 76 minutes and then blocked a powerful shot from sub James Collins from inside the penalty area with his right leg and deflected the ball over the crossbar on 87 minutes.
As belief coursed through his veins, more and more with every save, there was disbelief at his heroics flowing throughout the stadium.
There was more too; five more saves, to be precise, as Bialkowski's hands were kept warm on a cold, cold day in Wiltshire.
He was tested for the first time on 34 minutes as Swindon winger Gary Roberts fed the ball to the Robins' raiding forward right-back Nathan Thompson, who unleashed a fierce shot at goal from inside the penalty area that Bialkowski palmed away at his near post.
The Pole made a second good save just four minutes later. This time, he dived at full stretch to his right to stop a low stinging shot from midfielder Tommy Miller, who rifled the ball at goal from 20 yards from a short free-kick.
Save number three came in the opening minutes of the second half, Swindon central midfielder Simon Ferry rising to meet a right-wing cross into the box by Andy Williams and directing a header at goal from eight yards that Bialkowski held low down.
Number four was on 57 minutes as he dived to his left and acrobatically tipped a dipping shot from Swindon sub Louis Thompson over the bar and, after denying Rooney and Collins, his seventh and final act of defiance was to stop a powerful downward close-range header from defender Darren Ward from a corner on the goalline.
Together his saves were the 'magnificent seven' and they were, all of them, a joy to see. Talk about being in the zone. It was Bialkowski at his very, very best.
He was not altogether alone in his impressive performance, oh no. In front of him, the Magpies' defence was outstanding. Julian Kelly, on his return from a calf injury, made two vital clearances from inside the penalty area, Dean Leacock and Gary Liddle were rocks at the heart of the back-four and Alan Sheehan made an extraordinary block to stop Collins scoring in the second half.
It was his first return to the County Ground since he left Swindon to join Notts almost two years ago and, while he will want to forget a first-half free-kick that ended up closer to the corner flag than the goal that sparked ironic cheers from the home fans, the Irishman will happily relive the moment he threw himself in front of Collins' shot and deflected the ball over the bar.
It came after Bialkowski had tipped Rooney's header onto the post. The rebound fell invitingly to Collins, who had the goal at his mercy, but Sheehan came from nowhere to deny him and silence the booing.
Others did well too. Teenager Greg Tempest made his full League debut on the left side of the Magpies' midfield and gave everyone a glimpse of his promise with a confident performance, while the likes of Alan Judge, Jeff Hughes and captain Neal Bishop were driving forces, as always.
Judge and Bishop also both threatened to score in the second half.
Bishop's chance was on 64 minutes as Enoch Showunmi laid the ball off to him inside the penalty area and he rifled it first time at goal, but it was blocked, and Judge's opportunity was just five minutes later.
Sub Yoann Arquin squared the ball to him 25 yards out and he promptly struck a curling shot at goal, forcing Swindon goalkeeper Wes Foderingham to tip the ball over the crossbar.
That was the first save Foderingham had to make, however, which tells the story once again of the Magpies' lack of firepower, which is becoming a boring topic now.
It was from the subsequent corner that Notts went closest to scoring.
Judge swung the flag-kick into the box and Showunmi headed the ball at goal from close range that looked like it was going in, but Andy Williams was stationed on the goalline and he headed it up and against the underside of the crossbar and the Robins hacked it clear.
The Magpies came so close to a classic smash-and-grab win that would have put them just four points outside the play-offs with six games to go, but then they also came close to losing quite heavily too.
They would have done if it wasn't for Bialkowski, who surely slept all the way home.
