Kevin Nolan furious as Notts County are pegged back by controversial penalty

Posted Sunday, May 13, 2018 by PA

Notts County boss Kevin Nolan was furious with referee Gavin Ward for costing his side victory in the 1-1 League Two play-off semi-final first-leg draw with Coventry City.

Marc McNulty controversially drew the Sky Blues level from the spot with three minutes to play after the referee ruled Matt Tootle had tripped Tom Bayliss.

But television replays showed the Magpies defender won the ball cleanly.

Notts looked to be heading for a valuable first-leg lead after Jonathan Forte opened the scoring in the 49th minute with a cheeky finish.

It came after they had been forced to ride their luck during a pulsating first half which saw Coventry hit the post twice.

City also saw Jack Grimmer and McNulty go close with headers either side of the County opener.

Nolan said: “The game has been taken away from us by a poor refereeing decision. Our lads have done fantastic to get in to that position.

“We knew it would be tough with the conditions and we should be coming away with a 1-0 win – the ref has made a howler.

“The decision upset me for seven or eight minutes after the penalty and I lost my head, that’s why my assistant is there to calm me down.

“We have to make sure that this does not affect us in the second leg.

“We would have taken 1-1 before the game, but it is very disappointing for us now.

“We have to prepare properly for Friday as we always do.

“We showed them too much respect in the first half, but we were a lot better in the second half in difficult conditions.

“We are looking forward to the second leg.”

Coventry boss Mark Robins admitted his side had enjoyed a slice of luck with the penalty decision.

“It is nice to get luck with the penalty,” he said. “We had a legitimate claim for a penalty not given straight after it, maybe that suggested the first one was not a penalty.

“It was a harsh penalty and I would be gutted to get that given against me.

“Tom Bayliss has not dived, he went down under the momentum of the challenge and the ref gave it.

“It was a bit of luck, but luck went against us when McNulty hit the post and the other chances that we had to score.

“We started really well and created a load of chances, I thought we were good value at the break and played better than the score suggested.

“Notts County are a good side and are hard to play against.

“They have plenty of experience, but our youngsters did pretty well and the more experienced ones kept them together well.”