Peterborough boss Steve Evans hits out at ‘incompetent’ referee

Posted Sunday, October 21, 2018 by PA

Furious Peterborough boss Steve Evans wants the performance of referee Scott Duncan to be investigated after his side lost 1-0 at home to Accrington.

Evans’ second-placed side saw their winless home run stretch to five Sky Bet League One games when beaten by a solitary goal from Stanley skipper Sean McConville in the 11th minute.

Leading scorer Matt Godden thumped the bar as Posh attempted to respond before Accrington man Daniel Barlaser hit a post early in the second period.

Godden then fluffed the hosts’ best chance to level late on after being picked out by substitute Marcus Maddison’s fine pass.

Evans insisted Stanley goalscorer McConville should have seen red for a dreadful challenge on Maddison midway through the second half, and he was also unhappy that a series of fouls on Siriki Dembele went unpunished.

Evans said: “Accrington are a good side, but we gave them too much respect in the first half. We spoke about being more creative in the second half but we missed good opportunities.

“We’ve got to find the recipe to be successful at home, but this is a game we should have won based on possession and chances.

“The other factor we saw today was an incompetent referee. The two-footed challenge on Marcus was nothing short of horrendous and a talented boy like McConville doesn’t need to do that.

“There were also fouls on Siriki all afternoon. Every time the kid got the ball he got smashed and the performance of the referee should attract interest as people need to look at why he was so bad.

“This is the same referee I had in the Championship a few years ago. He was absolutely horrendous and then spent the whole week grovelling on the telephone to me.

“We really have to question what went on with his performance.”

Accrington continued a fine start to their first-ever League One season with a fifth win in six games to rise to fourth place.

Stanley boss John Coleman said: “I thought we were good value for the win based on the chances we had.

“Peterborough had little spells of pressure, but I don’t think our keeper had a save of any note to make.

“We could have retained our composure a bit more in the final 15 minutes to make things more comfortable.

“We were guilty of giving the ball away a bit too much, but not many teams will come here and win.

“We were excellent all over the park and the way in which we passed the ball really pleased me.

“That was certainly the case in the build-up to our goal and scoring early on allowed us to silence the crowd.

“It’s still early in the season and there will be plenty of twists and turns ahead, but we have a method of playing that the players like and they have really bought into it.”