Good Spot
JAMIE Ness spoke for the entire Argyle dressing-room when he considered the potential implications of the penalty-area clash between team-mate Sonny Bradley and Doncaster captain James Coppinger in Saturday’s 1-1 Sky Bet League One draw.
Late in the game, the Rovers’ man nipped in front of Sonny and fell to the deck when he felt contact from behind as the home side sought to escape from the Pilgrims’ second-half stranglehold on them and nick an unlikely win.
Referee Andy Haines ruled that there had been no foul play, though, and Rovers were denied the penalty for which most of the Keepmoat was howling.
Jamie said: “I was right behind it. For me, if it was us, I would be shouting for a penalty but, at the same time, it looks like they have come together and [Coppinger] has gone down quite easily, I thought.
“We would have been gutted if it had been given against us, considering the chances we’d had. We should have really been in front at that stage.”
Manager Derek Adams also felt that the referee’s call was a correct one, and had no complaints about the officiating.
“We thought we had a penalty at our end; they thought they had a penalty at their end,” he said. “The referee had a very good game today. I thought he was excellent; I thought the officials were very good.
“They let the game flow and that was good. It was an end-to-end game. I said to the fourth official that it was like an FA Cup-tie towards the end. [The referee] refereed it very well and I am delighted with them all.
“Coppinger goes down very easily and I don’t think you can give penalties for these kind of things. That’s my view of what I saw and I was probably about 30 yards away.”