Ben Garner hits out at officials after Charlton’s goalless draw with Lincoln

Posted Sunday, October 09, 2022 by PA

Ben Garner hit out at the officials after a dour 0-0 draw at Lincoln meant Charlton’s worrying winless run stretched to eight games.

In a game devoid of any real quality, Garner felt aggrieved after his side were on the wrong end of the decisions.

Imps’ stopper Carl Rushworth spilled Miles Leaburn’s effort before recovering in the nick of time and Garner believes his charges were denied a clear penalty when Leaburn was “rugby tackled” to the ground in the second half.

Garner groaned: “People can see it for themselves. I’m sounding like a broken record, but it’s week in and week out.

“Whether it went over the line or not, my issue is the referee’s pulled up and the lineman’s not in line with play so he can’t make the decision.

“We have a penalty for a handball in the first half and a definite one in my eyes in the second half when Miles Leaburn is rugby tackled to the floor.

“We’ve got to try and do it ourselves without relying on those decisions.

“Of course we take the positives. Defensively we were excellent. Jojo’s (Wollacott) made one save all day which he’s dealt with very, very well.

“We had to play like the home side really, they sat in. We had good control.

“We’re on a run where we haven’t won too much recently, we’re just lacking that little bit of confidence and spark in the final third. We have to get that and create that.

“It was a decent away performance, plenty to build on and we need to follow that up on Tuesday night with a win.”

Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy praised his side’s defensive endeavour after keeping a strong Addicks’ front line at bay.

He said: “I thought we were solid without being spectacular or disappointing in any way.

“I thought we started both halves slowly, for whatever reason I don’t know. But I thought we finished both halves really strongly.

“I think the decision making in the final third was very poor today. I thought we got into some very good areas but didn’t really hurt the opposition.

“I thought the back five was outstanding. Their frontline is really impressive through the middle and out wide. They’ve got real pace they can bring on as well.

“I thought we needed to be at our best at the back and at our best up top to win the game. I don’t quite think we were in the final third.

“What frustrated me in the first half came from what we work on and talk about and I don’t know why it takes 15 minutes for that to happen.”