Morecambe boss Bentley left fuming with the referee after Notts County draw

Posted Sunday, November 25, 2018 by PA

Morecambe boss Jim Bentley was furious with referee Dean Whitestone for denying his side an injury-time penalty and the chance to take all three points against fellow-strugglers Notts County.

Jamie Turley looked to have handled at the far post in the dying moments of the game but the referee waved away the home side’s penalty appeals, much to Bentley’s disgust.

He said: “It was a clear penalty, there wasn’t even a doubt. The defender has spread himself at the far post to make himself as big as possible and the ball has hit his hand.

“They don’t really come much clearer in my eyes but we didn’t get it and we have to accept it once again.

“I’m glad it didn’t cost us us more than it did because although we weren’t great today we definitely deserved something from the game.

“We had to make quite a few changes with five or six players out and we struggled to get going. There seemed to be a real hangover from our FA Cup defeat but thankfully we stepped it up and Kevin Ellison was once again in the right place at the right time to get us the point which we thoroughly deserved.”

Magpies’ caretaker boss Steve Chettle said his side were frustrated not to get the three points after a much-improved performance.

He said: “We are one point better off than we were but it should be three and it was tough to take really.

“We were much better than we were last week and we created more opportunities than we did last week and got ahead which was good but then we conceded from a set piece and all the good work was undone.

“I thought our game plan worked well until the 88th minute. We were more compact and had more structure to the team and it was all gong well for us until we didn’t do our jobs at the set piece.

“I think the ball did hit Jamie Turley on the hand late on but I thought we could have had a penalty ourselves in the first half when Kristian Dennis got his shirt pulled so you win some and you lose some.”

Dennis headed the visitors into the lead on 52 minutes with a fine finish as he threw himself at Will Patching’s right-wing cross to head past Mark Halstead at his near post.

Morecambe ended the game on top with Luke Conlan firing over from a good opening before Ellison struck from close range after Steve Old headed an Andrew Tutte corner back into the danger area.

The first half was a dour affair with the best chance falling to Dennis but he was denied by a good block from Morecambe keeper Halstead who raced well from his goal to block the danger.

Ross Fitzsimons saved smartly from a Liam Mandeville curler early in the second half in a game of few chances.