Salford City suffered League Two play-off final heartbreak as Notts County battled to a 3-0 win in the gruelling 36C Wembley Stadium heat.
Karl Robinson’s men beat Notts County twice during the regular season but struggled to gain a foothold in the match. The Magpies dictated proceedings and were ruthlessly clinical as record-breaking temperatures hit the capital.
Notts County have the fifth-highest possession figure in League Two and baked the Salford backline in the opening half hour as the Ammies defended the sun-drenched eastern goal.
Martin Paterson’s men capitalised on the Salford weariness after 32 minutes when jet-heeled striker Alassana Jatta latched onto a ball in behind Adebola Oluwo and finished coolly into the bottom corner.
The Magpies doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Lucas Ness climbed above his marker to head home Rodney McDonald’s looping centre.
Jones added the gloss to a convincing Notts County victory 20 minutes from time when he slotted Conor Grant’s low cutback into the bottom corner.
His goal made sure Notts County would be promoted to the third tier for the first time since 2015.
It was no more than Paterson’s men deserved as they contained Salford’s and were clinical going forward.
The Nottinghamshire side began the game brightly and went close to opening the scoring after 15 minutes when Jatta headed a teasing Jodi Jones cross over the bar.
Matt Butcher had a powerful strike from outside the box blocked at source and headed a Luke Garbutt corner wide as Salford went in search of an opener midway through the first half.
But the Ammies struggled to sustain pressure in the searing heat and Notts County, anchored by their metronomic midfield pairing of Scott Robertson and Oliver Norburn, began to control play as the half wore on.
Perhaps in cooler conditions with the Salford backline less stretched, Jones’ clipped ball into the channel would have been comfortably cut out by covering defender Oluwo.
Instead, it provided the perfect through ball for Jatta to race onto as he fired the ball low into the bottom corner 13 minutes from the break, sending tens of thousands of Notts County fans into raptures.
Robinson’s half-time team talk was made even more difficult when Ness headed McDonald’s volley across the goal into the top left corner in the 45th minute.
Salford emerged from the break reenergised but missed a host of glaring opportunities as their hopes of mounting an unlikely fightback dwindled away.
Kallum Cesay scored a dramatic 117th-minute winner in Salford’s dramatic play-off semi-final win but missed a golden chance to halve the deficit a minute after the break when he overran the ball when played clean through on goal.
Attacker Ryan Graydon fired tamely at goalkeeper James Belshaw as the Ammies continued to probe for the game’s all-important third goal.
But clinical Notts County capitalised on slack defending to put the game out of reach after 70 minutes when Grant, released down the right by Ness, pulled the ball back from the by-line for Jones to fire home.
Substitute Fabio Borini has been a source of inspiration off the bench for Salford throughout the campaign, but the former Liverpool, Chelsea and AC Milan forward headed wide from a Haji Mnoga cross as Robinson’s side were comfortably beaten.
Seven years after Salford beat Fylde in the National League play-off final under the Wembley arch to reach the English Football League promised land, the Ammies fell at the final hurdle as they were beaten 3-0 by Notts County.
Salford won four promotions in five seasons after the class of 92 took over the club in 2014, climbing from regional football to the EFL in rapid time.
Their breakneck rise from relative obscurity to become a competitive professional outfit, combined with the glitz and glamour of their ownership group, fuelled expectations that the club would continue their rapid progression.
But today’s chastening defeat means the Ammies will spend an eighth season in League Two.
