Notts County 1 - 2 Bristol City

Well, today we were hard done by. After taking an early lead against Bristol City, it was a case of backs to the wall for the Magpies, as the opposition plugged away.

Even though the Robins' efforts were ultimately rewarded with a goal on the hour, we were certainly capable of finishing the game with something.

That is, until the referee's late intervention gifted City an ill-deserved penalty right at the death, and then, that was it. We had lost the game, cruelly robbed of a point.

The game began with the visitors quickest off the starting blocks, as debutant Kieran Agard headed wide from Mark Little's cross on the right flank after just a minute.

Three minutes later, Robins goalkeeper Frank Fielding had to be alert to punch away a Liam Noble cross, the ball falling to Gary Jones, who blasted over.

Just before the quarter-hour mark, however, the breakthrough came the way of the home side.

A Haydn Hollis punt upfield was misjudged by the City defence, with Zeli Ismail claiming possession of the ball. After beating one defender and holding off another, he slotted the ball past Fielding to send the Kop wild.

The visitors responded positively and could have equalised when Luke Freeman's free-kick clipped the outside of the post on the half-hour mark.

Two minutes later, Noble skipped past two Bristol players, but his subsequent shot flew just wide.

The two teams exchanged sparring blows after the break, but with City growing into the game, it came as little surprise when, on the hour, Little's cross caused havoc in the home defence, and despite Agard failing to connect, Aaron Wilbraham was at hand to tap the ball into an empty net for the equalising goal.

Now brimming with confidence, Steve Cotterill's side stepped it up a gear and found themselves troubling Notts time and time again, although they were let off in the 82nd minute when, following a counterattack, Fielding had to be at his best to save a low Ismail drive.

For all their efforts, however, Notts were on course to settle for a well-earned point, but then disaster struck in injury time.

Luke Freeman forayed into the area when Curtis Thompson went into a challenge, with the Bristol man convincingly drawing a foul, some might say even dived to the ground.

The referee blew for a penalty, much to the shock and anger of everyone linked with Notts, on the pitch, on the sidelines and in the stands.

Nevertheless, Jay Emanuel-Thomas placed the ball on the penalty spot, composed himself, and sent Roy Carroll the wrong way to steal the victory away from the Magpies.