Darren Sarll: Stevenage were robbed of victory - 7M sport

Darren Sarll: Stevenage were robbed of victory



Posted Sunday, February 11, 2018 by PA

Darren Sarll: Stevenage were robbed of victory

Stevenage boss Darren Sarll insisted his side had been robbed of three points after they battled back from going a goal down late on to earn a 1-1 draw against League Two leaders Luton.

A sterile game exploded into life late on, with Town awarded a penalty with five minutes left as Ronnie Henry hauled down James Collins, who sent goalkeeper Tom King the wrong way from the spot.

But just three minutes later Stevenage equalised as substitute Danny Newton headed home Ben Kennedy’s corner.

And Kennedy thought he had won it after a blistering counter from himself and Mark McKee only to see the effort ruled out for offside.

“My lads have been absolutely robbed,” said Sarll. “The momentum was with us, I thought a goal was imminent.

“The (Luton) penalty decision is probably the most scandalous decision I’ve ever seen.

“The most scandalous thing about it is that at the end the referee’s explanation was, ‘the tackle was good, but two arms in the back’.

“I don’t know if he’s ever played football before but when you slide tackle if you don’t lean back and your feet don’t extend in front then you can’t make tackles.

“You can’t throw your legs forward and your upper body forward at the same time – it’s bio-mechanically impossibly.

“I have never heard such a reason for giving a penalty in all my life.”

The best chance of a timid first half came when Jake Jervis headed Harry Cornick’s cross off target.

Cornick then carved an opportunity for himself by cutting inside before eventually hitting his strike over the crossbar.

Luton sit six points clear at the top of the table, but manager Nathan Jones admitted he was disappointed to concede so late in the game.

“I thought we were the better side first half and they were the better side second half,” said Jones.

“But when you score an 85th-minute goal you want to go on and see the game out, and we didn’t do that.

“It’s a massive disappointment, but it’s not a disaster and to come here, the conditions were awful, and to dig in is pleasing.

“The wind was swirling, we’re not the biggest side, we don’t have a big striker. We have footballers who like to play football and we couldn’t do that at times.

“The real disappointment is scoring late and not seeing the game out. It would have been nice to nick it, it would have been slightly harsh on them.”

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