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Kevin Nolan fumes as Notts County 'robbed' by penalty 'howler' in play-off

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Kevin Nolan felt Notts County’s 1-0 win against Coventry was taken away from them with a controversial refereeing decision as they conceded a penalty late on in the 1-1 draw

Kevin Nolan took aim at referee Gavin Ward's "howler" to award Coventry a late penalty in Notts County's draw at the Ricoh Arena.

Marc McNulty's 87th-minute spot kick leaves the two sides' League Two play-off semi-final finely balanced going into the second leg at Meadow Lane on Friday night - but the Sky Blues' top scorer should never have been given the chance to level from the spot.

Ward denied the Magpies the chance to take a one-goal lead into their home leg when he wrongly gave a penalty against defender Matt Tootle when he won the ball cleanly from Coventry's Tom Bayliss in the area.

"It's been taken away from us by a referee, by a really really poor decision," Nolan told Sky Sports. "That buoys the crowd and players, he misses a blatant handball too. Is he trying to even it up? Probably.

Jonathan Forte scored an exquisite opener for Notts County
Image: Jonathan Forte's backheeled opener should have been enough to give the Magpies victory

"We shouldn't have been in that position, we knew it was going to be tough, with the conditions and everything else, but we should've been coming away with a 1-0 but the referee has made a howler."

Defender Richard Duffy was booked for his protests about the decision while Nolan himself was incensed on the touchline, but the 35-year-old, still the Football League's youngest manager, said he and his team would have to channel their sense of injustice ahead of the second leg.

He said: "I've just said to the lads, you obviously feel robbed and we would've taken a 1-1 before the game if we'd been handed it, but the circumstances have made it more disappointing."

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"We've got to make sure we prepare properly for Friday, it upset me for a good seven or eight minutes after the penalty but the assistants are there to calm me down. I feel bad for our lads and for all of Nottingham, we got robbed."

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