COVENTRY CITY pulled off a last Splash and Grab job thanks to their Scottish strike sensation Mark McNulty.
But Notts County boss Kevin Nolan will be fuming at the penalty that never was.
Coventry snatched a late leveller when ref Gavin Ward pointed to the spot after Matt Tootle slid in to dispossess Coventry midfielder Tom Bayliss in the box.
However TV replays showed the Magpies defender had taken the ball cleanly and Ward was surrounded by a posse of furious County players who claimed they had been robbed.
Amid the mayhem, McNulty remained the coolest head in the Ricoh to calmly send Adam Collin the wrong way from the spot to net his 27th goal of an extraordinary season.
Yet for much of the second half Sky Blues slayer Jonathan Forte appeared to have put City to the sword for the second time in a month.
The County striker’s sensational strike, four minutes into the second half, appeared to put Nolan’s side firmly in the driving seat for Friday’s return leg at Meadow Lane.
Especially as Robins now risks losing defender Tom Davies, who could cop a retrospective ban for stamping on County skipper Richard Duffy midway through the first half in another controversial incident which showed referee Ward in a bad light.
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If the FA’s eagle-eyed disciplinary committee decide Davies deliberately raked his studs on Duffy in an off-the ball clash Robins could be left nursing another hangover he could do without.
In monsoon-like conditions, County were grateful for any Forte in a storm as Coventry succumbed to a brilliant piece of opportunism after 49 minutes.
Man of the Match Daniel Jones made use of the waterlogged conditions to slide in and disposses startled Cov right back Jack Grimmer.
Jones was first to leap back to his feet to deliver a sensational low cross which Forte expertly diverted past the startled Lee Burge in Coventry’s goal with the cheekiest of back flicks from six yards.
For the Sky Blues it was that old familiar sinking feeling as Forte scored twice at Meadow Lane last month to help his side to a 2-1 home win.
However thanks to that late drama on a rain-sodden pitch there is now all to play for when this pair meet again at Meadow Lane on Friday.
But McNulty admitted he was unsure about the penalty.
He told Sky Sports: “You see them given and sometimes you don’t, but it was great to stick the penalty away.
“I’d picked where I was going and I never changed my mind.
“I could have had a couple of goals, I hit the post and they also defended a header I had well.
“That was unfortunate but these things happen.”
County defender Jones told Sky: “Coventry came out fast.
“They hit the post and we rode our luck but we defended brilliantly.
“There was a lot of drama, especially at the end with the penalty which I thought was a little dubious.
“I thought he [Matt Tootle] won the ball but you just have to get on with it.”
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