Matt Taylor criticises referee Gavin Ward after Bristol Rovers lose to Blackpool

Posted Sunday, January 21, 2024 by PA

Bristol Rovers manager Matt Taylor questioned referee Gavin Ward as his Pirates lost at home for only the second time in Sky Bet League One this season.

Blackpool came out of the blocks quickest to score twice in the first 20 minutes at the Memorial Stadium en route to a 2-1 victory.

Kyle Joseph twice crossed low, initially for CJ Hamilton to shoot into the top corner of the Rovers net in the fifth minute before midfielder Karamoko Dembele then converted from another Joseph cross 14 minutes later.

Rovers responded through Chris Martin’s deft flick, following a long throw, and Taylor argued that his side should have had a free-kick at least – if not a penalty – when Aaron Collins was brought down with just a minute of the game left to play.

“It’s definitely a foul,” said Taylor. “You’ll probably freeze frame it to see if it was in the box or not but it was definitely a foul.

“Just like the handball in the wall in the first half was definitely that.

“The biggest one for me is their second goal. I need to get clarity from the officials for that in relation to what I need to instruct Connor Taylor to do in that situation.

“Jordan Rhodes is in an offside position and Taylor is stretching and back-pedalling. He heads it into a dangerous area and their player picks it up.

“One pass and it’s in the back of the net. Does he leave it? For me it’s still offside.”

Taylor added that he didn’t think referee Ward had controlled the game, with eight yellow cards handed out in the match, explaining that he would be unlikely to be asked by the media about the referee if the official had produced a good performance.

The former Exeter boss did hint after the game that striker Martin is set to extend his contract through to the end of the season.

Blackpool head coach Neil Critchley dismissed talk that his team might have conceded a late penalty when Collins was caught by two Seasiders defenders as he burst into the penalty area in stoppage time.

“It’s outside the box,” he said. “He falls in the box but it’s outside the box.

“It could have been given but we could have been given one against Nottingham Forest the other night.

“These things happen. I’ve got a list to go through of penalties that we should have had this season. But yes, maybe it was a free-kick.

“We’ve had to do it in a different way today. Certain aspects of our game away have been questioned this season. I think that answers some of them today.

“It wasn’t a pretty game of football but I thought we battled and competed and we had to against a really good team at home.”