Neal Ardley admitted Notts County’s heart-breaking stoppage time defeat to 10-man Exeter summed up the season as the Magpies failed to close the gap to Football League safety.
A stoppage-time goal from Nicky Law snatched a 1-0 win for the promotion-chasing Grecians in a game the Magpies dominated for large spells after Ryan Bowman’s first-half dismissal.
With Yeovil losing and Macclesfield dropping points at home to Stevenage, a win would have meant only goal difference would have stopped Notts from climbing out of the bottom two.
It was a miserable way to end the club’s day of celebration as they remembered the famous FA Cup win 125 years ago and boss Ardley could not hide his anguish post-match.
“It was painful to witness,” he said.
“We didn’t do a bundle wrong – we were better for 20 minutes before the sending off, adjusted to the red card and pummelled them, just without the quality, before we made a silly mistake at the death.
“We threw everything at them and it can be hard to create clear-cut chances against 10 men who are defending for their lives, but you have to get in the right areas.
“We needed more quality and better decision making in the final third and that bit of composure to get us the goal.
“I didn’t see the ending coming at all, though, and that is the most disappointing thing – it sums our season up.”
