Nigel Clough critical of refereeing in Mansfield draw at Newport

Posted Sunday, February 20, 2022 by PA

Mansfield manager Nigel Clough blamed the referee for his side being pegged back by Newport in a tempestuous 1-1 draw at Rodney Parade.

Clough’s men deservedly led 1-0 through a Josh Pask own goal midway through the second half before John-Joe O’Toole was sent off and Sky Bet League Two top scorer Dom Telford levelled from the penalty spot eight minutes from time.

The Mansfield boss felt O’Toole was unfortunate to be singled out after he was shown a straight red card following a mass brawl on the touchline in the 73rd minute.

And Clough was furious that Will Finnie pointed to the spot when Scot Bennett’s shot hit Oliver Hawkins’ hand in the box at close range on 82 minutes.

“We feel as if his decisions, unfortunately, have been decisive – the ‘defining errors’ we call them – with the penalty and with the sending off,” said the Stags boss.

“Usually when there’s a melee like that, there’s a few yellow cards given out to both sides, but we got a yellow and red, which is unusual.

“I think it compounded his error-strewn performance to give the penalty, which was absolutely staggering.

“It’s very frustrating when you see a refereeing performance like that and unfortunately his errors have resulted in us losing two points today.”

Mansfield were dominant in the first half but were hanging on with 10 men during seven minutes of stoppage time.

“We were brilliant all the way through until we went down to 10 men and conceded the penalty,” added Clough.

“We were far superior. We created chances throughout and should have scored two in the first half.

“We got the goal and we were in complete control until the red card.

“To come to one of your promotion rivals, fellow contenders, and play as well as we did and be as brave on the ball as we were it speaks volumes.”

Newport manager James Rowberry praised his side’s character and was pleased with the result, even though it sees them slip out of the play-off places.

“I see it as a good point,” he said. “Forget about the table because we have shown a real grit, desire and focus to keep going when we were up against it.

“I said to the lads that all I ask is that they give me their all every week, then the rest of it is on me.

“We showed unbelievable character, attitude and willingness to work.

“We didn’t start the game as quickly as I would have liked and they had a lot of chances in the first half but we stifled them more in the second half.

“We showed unbelievable character which makes me really proud of what the lads achieved.”