Ben Garner fumes at ‘wrong’ decisions as Swindon pay the penalty

Swindon boss Ben Garner was left “frustrated” with the decisions after two penalties saw his side lose 2-0 to Barrow at Holker Street.

The Bluebirds had failed to score in their previous six games before second-half spot kicks from Ollie Banks and Josh Gordon ended Mark Cooper’s side’s worrying nine-game winless run in the league.

Kayne Kesler-Hayden handled a cross in the box before Ben Gladwin was adjudged to have tripped Patrick Brough late on.

But Garner stressed: “I’m just disappointed because the supporters have travelled in their numbers for a very long journey and the game’s been decided by two bad refereeing decisions.

“They’re wrong, they’re not penalties. They haven’t had a shot on goal, they haven’t scored in their last six games and he gives them a penalty.

“It’s not an unnatural position, Kayne’s running and as he’s running it’s hit his hand. I haven’t seen one of those given in any league all season.

“The second one Ben Gladwin’s pulled by their player, puts the lunge in, still gets the ball and he still gives a penalty.

“I’m waiting to go and speak to him which I haven’t done with any referee this season.

“The first penalty decision changes the momentum of the game and the second one completely changes it and it made it hard for us.

“We didn’t do enough to break them down. It was hard at 1-0 on a cut-up pitch, but the second penalty took the game away from us.”

Victory pushed Barrow a vital six points clear of the non-league trapdoor.

And Bluebirds boss Cooper was pleased his side finally got what they deserved as they picked up a first league win since the beginning of October.

Cooper purred: “I’ve spoken in recent weeks about performances and if we perform at a certain level we’ll get results and today proved that.

“We’ve played pretty well over the last few weeks and we’ve come away with not a lot.

“We went up a level again. Our intensity was top-drawer and our football as well. We played with a passion and got after a good team and got our rewards.

“Confidence is a big thing and that win will help a lot of the boys.

“I thought they were outstanding. They had a right go against a really good team in difficult conditions.

“Most pleasing for me was we passed the ball and the build-up to the first goal was brilliant play.

“The whole team was exceptional in terms of the way they worked, their want to be on the front foot. That was the most pleasing thing for me because if you let Swindon get into a rhythm they’re really good.”