Notts County’s League One promotion hopes took a major blow having been defeated by AFC Wimbledon – with star man Alassana Jatta adding to their woes.
The Magpies lost 1-0 at Meadow Lane in their semi-final first leg tie on Saturday night with their leading scorer sent off in controversial fashion.
Jatta was sent off for County over this two-footed lunge in the closing stagesX / SkyFootball He then shoved Dons forward Josh Neufville in the face before making his way off the pitchPARiley Harbottle scored the only goal of the match to give the Dons a slender lead heading into next weekend’s crunch clash.
But unfortunately for County, they will be forced to play without Jatta, who has scored 22 goals in all competitions this season.
With the hosts desperate for a late equaliser, the Gambia international lunged in two-footed on Alistair Smith in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
While he got the ball, referee Thomas Kirk wasted no time in awarding the free-kick, before pulling out the red card.
Jatta was incensed with the decision, as too was boss Stuart Maynard as he could be seen furiously protesting with the fourth official.
The sending off led to both sets of players clashing in the middle of the pitch as proceedings threatened to get out of control.
And that was indeed what happened as Jatta escalated things by pushing Dons winger Josh Neufville in the face.
As players looked to usher him off the pitch, Jatta then walked back to confront Smith, where he appeared to flick him as he was laying injured on the floor.
Unsurprisingly, Meadow Lane became a cauldron of boos aimed at the officials, with the volume increasing as they made their way to the tunnel following the full-time whistle.
Even County’s X account raged at the decision, as they posted: “Jatta has the shirt ripped off his back before winning the ball with a lunging challenge – but is shown a straight red card.”
Jatta won the ball, but he was sent off after both of his feet left the groundSky Football The striker will now miss the semi-final second leg tie away at WimbledonPA He then appeared to flick Smith as tempers boiled over at Meadow LaneIt was a view shared by Maynard in his post-match interview with BBC Radio Nottingham, as he insisted his side should have had a free-kick prior to the tackle.
He said: “Everyone’s seen the performance of the officials.
“It happened so fast, there was a shirt pull around the neck and makes him lunge.
“I need to watch it back and we’ll make a decision and a call [to appeal].”
Though Maynard remains upbeat his side can book their spot at Wembley as they look to return to League One for the first time since the 2014/15 season.
The 44-year-old remarked: “I thought we performed to an unbelievable level.
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“We kept getting into those areas and we have to take that positivity in the second leg and I believe we can go though.
“But we have to make sure we put in that level of performance if we’re to go to Wembley.
“I’m confident, I don’t think you’ve seen a team open them up as we have done tonight.”
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