Nathan Jones felt referee ‘ruined the game’ after Charlton’s defeat to Blackpool

Posted Sunday, September 22, 2024 by PA

Charlton boss Nathan Jones was critical of referee Charles Breakspear after his side lost 2-1 to Blackpool.

Victory for the Tangerines was their first on the road under new head coach Steve Bruce, with an own goal from Gassan Ahadme and an Albie Morgan strike enough to see off the Addicks, who netted through Luke Berry in stoppage time.

The second half was mired by a significant number of stoppages, which led to at least 12 minutes of added time.

Jones believed that the amount of fouls awarded in the match was detrimental to the game.

He said: “It became farcical. Every single time anyone came together it was a free-kick to Blackpool. There must have been 200 stoppages.

“The referee facilitated the way Blackpool wanted to play, he gave them a free-kick for absolutely everything.

“It absolutely ruined the game as a spectacle, it became 200 sporadic events.

“For me it was really frustrating, especially with that first-half performance because I thought Blackpool were excellent.

“We weren’t aggressive, we were passive and in the second half we didn’t demonstrate enough quality.”

Blackpool dominated early and deserved their lead after 27 minutes. A deep cross by Rob Apter found the head of Kyle Joseph, although the ball looked to have come off Ahadme.

Ex-Charlton player Morgan doubled the lead against his former club five minutes later, with a good low strike from the edge of the area that Will Mannion could not reach.

The hosts sprung into life in the second half and Harry Tyrer had to pull off a good 51st-minute save from a Lloyd Jones header.

Blackpool almost made it 3-0 after 58 minutes when CJ Hamilton hit the post, while Joseph turned a Dom Ballard cross wide.

With the crowd visibly getting irritated by the amount of free-kicks against their team, they were at least placated by their goal late on.

A fumble by Tyrer let in Berry, but the hosts could not find that elusive equaliser.

With Blackpool players clearly jubilant at the full-time whistle, Bruce was pleased with the first-half performance in particular.

He said: “There was certainly a bit of drama, I can’t remember a game going so much overtime – I think the physio has done more work than some of our players.

“For 70 minutes we were absolutely terrific, the way we played. There was a bit of drama towards the end.

“We’ve not had back-to-back wins for a long time, nor won away, and it was never going to be easy against a team riding high.

“In the first half, I thought we were bright, sharp up front, and we gave them all sorts of problems. I’m really pleased – we should have scored maybe two or three more.”