Match Report: Officials help Coventry City reach Wembley at expense of Notts County

Notts County's 2017-18 season ended on a sour note as Coventry City put in an assured display, helped in no small part by several dubious refereeing decisions, to run out 4-1 winners at Meadow Lane.

The first leg of their League Two playoff semi-final ended 1-1 as a contentious penalty saw the Sky Blues edge level on the night and in the tie, but the hope was that home advantage in the return leg could prove beneficial for the Magpies.

However, the first half at the San Sirrel was little short of atrocious for Notts, who fell behind after just six minutes when a corner was not properly dealt with and Maxime Biamou was able to unleash an overhead kick and find the back of the net.

The hosts were truly pedestrian in the opening 45 minutes, mostly playing hoofball and proving unable to stop Coventry from playing through them, indeed going on to concede a second goal on 37 minutes when Marc McNulty combined with Liam Kelly to lash home from eight yards out.

Out of nowhere, however, Notts claimed a lifeline in the game when, shortly before half time, a long throw was flicked into the box by Richard Duffy and Jorge Grant thundered home at the back post, halving the deficit and setting up a high-stakes second half.

Shaun Brisley and McNulty were involved in some handbags just before the whistle just to make things a little tastier and, much to the home fans' delight, Notts were right out of the starting blocks in the second half.

On 65 minutes, Jon Stead forced Lee Burge into a superb save from just inside the area, and moments later they had the ball in the back of the net, but Jonathan Forte's effort was unjustly - here we are using this word again - ruled out for offside.

To make matters worse, Coventry's killer third goal, which caused County's heads to drop, actually was offside, Biamou finding time in the area to turn and fire a low shot into the bottom corner.

The Sky Blues eventually added a fourth, Tom Bayliss running into space and rifling home a long-range effort five minutes from time, to trigger an exodus in the stands, the dreams of Wembley torn asunder.

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