Lincoln boss Michael Appleton unhappy with Ipswich’s winning goal

Posted Sunday, September 19, 2021 by PA

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton was left fuming at the decision to allow Ipswich’s winning goal in his side’s 1-0 defeat.

Tractor Boys striker Macauley Bonne appeared to shove defender TJ Eyoma as he rose to head home the only goal on the half-hour mark.

But to the Imps’ shock the goal was allowed to stand and, after the game, Appleton could not contain his anger at the decision.

“It takes a lot for me to get angry but when people don’t do their jobs, I’m going to get angry,” he said.

“There wasn’t one single person in this stadium who didn’t think it was a foul.

“It was a clear foul, it was there for everybody to see. It was one of those surreal moments where you’re thinking: ‘Has that actually just happened?’.

“It’s not just one hand, it’s two hands. It’s hard to take because decisions like that in big games can become costly.”

Appleton, who was booked at half-time after confronting referee Benjamin Speedie, was left furious again in the second half when a strike from Regan Poole was ruled out for offside.

“What’s even harder to swallow, which makes it even worse, was that we scored a perfectly good goal. He [Poole] was well onside,” said Appleton.

Asked if he would speak to Speedie after the game, Appleton replied: “No, what’s the point? I said what I needed to say at half-time. He was too arrogant to speak to me at half-time, why should I speak to him now?”

In contrast, it was a day to remember for Ipswich, who picked up their first Sky Bet League One victory of the season to ease the pressure on manager Paul Cook, who was delighted with his side’s first-half display.

Cook, who completely dismantled his squad over the summer, had endured a tough start with just three points from six games.

“I’m so proud of the players and really pleased for the supporters,” said Cook, whose side were roared on by more than 1,700 travelling fans at the LNER Stadium.

“We’ve got that allusive win that will give us a boost. We’ve played seven league games, 39 to go. If we can play like we did in the first half for longer then we’ll be up there.

“We’ve got 20 new players. If you look at the performance last week [in the 5-2 defeat to Bolton] and compare it to this week, you can see what work on the training ground does. That’s what we need and that’s what the players will get, more hard work.

“We just want to make those supporters proud. They’ve left this ground so happy. We’ve got to make sure we follow it up next week against Sheffield Wednesday.”