Neil Aspin: 'Penalty call in Notts County, Port Vale game was bad decision'

Port Vale manager Neil Aspin has hit out at the penalty decision which helped Notts County claim all three points in a 1-0 win the New Year's Day game at Meadow Lane.

Kevin Nolan's charges had been denied several key decisions by the referee but were given the opportunity to take the lead late on when Marcus Harness's shove on Jon Stead led to the awarding of a spot kick.

From 12 yards out, the veteran striker smashed the ball into the top corner, leaving goalkeeper Ryan Boot no chance, to keep Notts well in the automatic promotion positions.

“I have watched it back on the laptop and there is minimal contact. He was already going down," Aspin told the Stoke Sentinel. “For us, it’s a really bad decision and I don’t think we deserved it.

“I can’t fault the effort of the players. We have had a tough run of games and they come out of that with a lot of credit. It is a real shame that the unbeaten run has been ended by a referee’s decision.”

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