Lowe: No regrets after Sarcevic misses late penalty to see Plymouth earn replay
Posted Monday, December 02, 2019 by PA
Ryan Lowe had no regrets about letting Antoni Sarcevic take two penalties, despite his second one being saved in stoppage time to deny Plymouth an FA Cup second-round win.
The midfielder had already netted with a well-placed spot-kick to notch an 84th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers after Abu Ogogo brought down Danny Mayor.
The hosts had taken a 74th-minute lead through Liam Sercombe before Sarcevic’s reply but they lost Rollin Menayese to a red card for fouling former Rovers winger Byron Moore at the death.
With the resulting penalty, Sarcevic elected to go down the middle but he saw goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola save with his legs.
Plymouth boss Lowe said: “Antoni is our designated penalty-taker and, while Dom Telford was on the pitch at the end and could have taken one, there was no reason to change.
“In fact, Antoni has hit both spot-kicks well and the second brought a good save. He will continue to take them for us.
“Overall, I couldn’t have asked for more from my players. We are improving all the time as a side and I’m really pleased to be in the hat for the third round.
“We controlled much of the game, but they scored a very good goal and with 15 minutes left, it looked like we were going out of the competition.
“After that there were mixed emotions because we so nearly won the game – but we will look forward to the replay and the third-round draw.
“I am sure Rovers will say the same. They were not happy with the penalty awards, but I felt we could have had two before the first one was given.”
Rovers manager Graham Coughlan – facing the club he excelled with as a player – was far from impressed by referee Will Finnie, having picked up a yellow card himself.
“I’m biting my tongue because I have every sympathy with match officials and don’t like hiding behind poor decisions,” he side.
“I just hope the referee will review the sending off because we have a young player, Rollin Menayese, in the dressing room, who is devastated, despite having played really well.
“If he won’t look at it again, we will appeal the red card. To be honest, I am sick to death of receiving apologies from referees.
“We should be in the third round, even though we can play a lot better. We gave a poor account of ourselves in the first half, but were much more effective when I sent on a second striker.
“Even at the death Luke Leahy has hit the bar with a header. But we could be out of the cup because of decisions going against us, so let’s be positive and move forward.”
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