Referee should have sent off Blackpool keeper Joe Lewis, fumes Neil Lennon

Wanderers left Blackpool feeling a little ‘reffed up’ after Blackpool keeper Joe Lewis avoided a first-half red card at Bloomfield Road.

There was unanimous agreement within the Whites dressing room the Seasiders keeper should have been heading off after toppling Craig Davies just before the break on the edge of the area.

Some even felt it should have been a penalty.

Referee Nigel Miller thought otherwise, although he appeared to change his mind based on a conversation with his assistant, who said the striker was heading away from goal when the keeper brought him down and that defender Peter Clarke was getting in a position to cover.

“I think it was a sending off and a penalty,” fumed Neil Lennon. “We were dealt a double blow.

“Craig knows the goalie is coming, he has to ride out the challenge. He got the touch first and he’s clean through on goal.

“They (the officials) are saying Peter Clarke would get back but he’d never get there if Craig has stayed on his feet and rolled the ball into an empty net.

“I am pretty sure that the contact was on the line as well so, for me, it was a penalty as well.”

His words were echoed by Dorian Dervite, the French defender convinced Wanderers should have been handed a man advantage by the County Durham official.

“I thought he was the last man and the rule is, if you’re last man, you get a red card,” he said.

“The referee said he wasn’t going in the direction of the ball, which was the linesman’s view.

“It’s a shame and we were disappointed. But we had to deal with it.”

To compound Lennon’s mood, Jacob Murphy appeared to have earned Blackpool only a second win of the campaign with a free-kick 15 minutes before the end. Chung-Yong Lee signalled the fight-back with a well-taken goal, and Wanderers nearly snatched it towards the end.

“I’m not happy with the decision but I’m pleased with the players’ reactions. They got their head down and got on with it,” said Lennon.

“It was a difficult pitch. It started to cut up in the second half.

“We conceded a wonder goal and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say ‘well done’ but our reaction was excellent.”

Lennon had been less impressed with the way Wanderers went about their business early on.

The manager wore a constant grimace in the first half as his side gave up possession but admitted things picked up in the second half.

“The second half had far more zest and urgency and I thought their goal did come against the run of play,” he said.

“When you are not in front and taking advantage of the good possession or territory then you are going to give yourself problems.

“They didn’t just dig in, they started playing. On the balance of the game we deserved something out of it.”

Lennon threw caution to the wind towards the end, introducing Jay Spearing, Joe Mason and Rob Hall, and the manager believes his tactical changes nearly brought dividends.

“We tried to win it, tried to create more chances with Joe because I felt we were losing our way a little bit,” he said.

“Jay Spearing was excellent when he came on, popping the ball around, because I thought Blackpool were tiring at the end.

“Rob only got five minutes but we tried to get some crosses in the box and put them under some pressure.”

Source

I agree. Craig was trying to knock the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper and had he remained on his feet, it would have been relatively simple to score from there. A penalty was always going to be a 50-50 decision there but the red card was clear cut.

Ah, now we're blaming the referee for not beating bottom of the league.

He doesn't blame the ref for anything, just says he thinks it was the wrong decision.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:He doesn't blame the ref for anything, just says he thinks it was the wrong decision.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Hipster_Nebula wrote:He doesn't blame the ref for anything, just says he thinks it was the wrong decision.

Indeed. Not much to say when the truth hits.

When you can't beat bottom of the league you simply have to admit you were shit, rather than blame the referee, the colour of the kit, or whatever excuse clouds the fact you were shit.

Natasha Whittam wrote:When you can't beat bottom of the league you simply have to admit you were shit, rather than blame the referee, the colour of the kit, or whatever excuse clouds the fact you were shit.

From the replays yes it was a refereeing disgrace, from your point of view it matters not, you should leave this forum, and stick to Chorleyways.co.uk, clearly you would be top poster within a week, take a bow son.

Was never in a million years a penalty, a red card would have been harsh as well. If Davies had got the ball would have still had a lot to do to score from that position.

Having scored from close to the half line, I don't think it would have that much to do to score from the edge of the penalty box.

MartinBWFC wrote:

From the replays yes it was a refereeing disgrace, from your point of view it matters not, you should leave this forum, and stick to Chorleyways.co.uk, clearly you would be top poster within a week, take a bow son.

You may have scared off Scott, but you're playing with the big girls now, there will only be one outcome in this situation. And it won't be good for you.