Dave Challinor unhappy with ’embarrassing’ refereeing in Stockport’s home draw
Posted Sunday, March 05, 2023 by PA
Stockport boss Dave Challinor aimed a swipe at referee Robert Lewis after his play-off chasing side were held to a 0-0 home draw by Doncaster.
Challinor clearly felt the flow of the game for both sides was not helped by some ‘embarrassing’ officiating.
He said: “The momentum of the game clearly wasn’t helped by the third team out there.
“The officiating was horrendous at times, it was petty.
“There’s just no consistency with the standard of refereeing, and today it led to the game being fragmented as he was giving fouls all over the pitch.
“I’m speaking for both sides here by the way – he just couldn’t wait to give free-kicks and it spoiled the game as a spectacle.
“Both benches had no idea what free-kicks were being given for at times, and some of the stuff was embarrassing.
“Players just needed to fall over to get a free-kick, it was so unpredictable and it spoiled the game.”
County remain in the play-off places despite being held by dogged Doncaster and Challinor added: “I think we just lacked that bit of quality.
“Their keeper made some really good saves, and if that hadn’t happened and we’d won 1-0, it’s a totally different feeling.
“Win on Tuesday against Gillingham, though, and that’s four points from three games, so hopefully we can bounce back.”
It was a disappointing opening 45 minutes at a packed-out Edgeley Park as County’s Ryan Rydel went closest to a goal when his bullet header was superbly saved by keeper Jonathan Mitchell.
Stockport remained on top in the second period, but they could not find a way through a resolute Rovers defence, with Mitchell coming to the rescue again as he denied Kyle Wootton and Will Collar.
It was a third game without a goal for Doncaster, but boss Danny Schofield was at least happy to gain a point after back-to-back defeats before this.
Schofield said: “I’d say this was a hard-earned point.
“All of the players showed a real fighting spirit, and defensively we were excellent.
“We defended our box well, against a really good Stockport team, so I think we deserved a point at the end of it.
“The lads kept it pretty solid, though early on we invited a bit too much pressure. We soon worked that out, though.
“Stockport are a top team, don’t forget, teams don’t create a lot of chances here.
“We needed to be on top of our game both individually and collectively, and I think we were to a large extent.
“A good performance like this should now set us up for the next two tough games we’ve got.
“This is a tough league, but I know we can perform against any side in the division, so we have to take lots of positives from today’s efforts.”
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