Parkin fuming at abject officiating

The Rochdale players on the pitch before kick off

Bristol Rovers 0 Rochdale 0

Match official Kevin Wright did his best to deny Rochdale a hard earned point at the Memorial Stadium. Having earlier denied Dale two clear penalties, the referee gave the home side a second half spot kick for what was an excellent tackle by James Sharp on Lewis Haldane. Justice was served when Matthew Gilks saved Richard Barker’s penalty but the performance of the referee still deeply angered Rochdale manager Steve Parkin.

Speaking after the game Parkin was furious at Mr Wright’s decision making: “I can’t accept that as a manager, I can’t accept any excuses that he’s got or any reasons that he’s got. I can not accept that performance from the referee. First and foremost his decision making was a million miles away from what it should be. It was never a penalty and we should have had, certainly one penalty, maybe two, but I got the feeling that he was never going to give those and I also got the feeling when he had the opportunity to make a decision at the opposite end he may do and that’s exactly what happened.”

In what was a classic game of two halves, Dale had the better of the opening period and the home supporters were distinctly disappointed with their side’s first half display. The visitors enjoyed plenty of early possession with the wind at their backs and they created by far the better openings in the first forty-five minutes.

Keith Barker was a constant thorn in the Rovers defence and he was at the heart of all Dale’s attacks. He was on the end of the first meaningful attempt for the visitors as he headed James Sharp’s long ball into the arms of Phillips. Phillips then had a complete aberration in throwing the ball straight back to the feet of Barker and the tall striker won a corner as his next effort was well blocked.

Bristol continued their nervy start and Barker created Dale’s next chance as he beat the offside trap and got to the by-line before pulling the ball back for strike partner Sako and it was arguable that the gangly forward’s low shot struck a hand; Sako was certainly quick to plead his case to an unsympathetic official.

Dale were then struck by an injury blow as centre half Nathan Stanton was forced from the field with a calf strain and Mark Jackson took his place. As Jackson looked to settle, Bristol created their best chance of the half as Haldane got in behind the Dale substitute, but he took the ball too wide and could only fire a vicious drive across goal.

Phillips remained by far the busier of two keepers at the other end but he could only watch as Barker crashed a header off the crossbar from Lee Crooks diagonal ball. This led to the first of Dale’s penalty claims as the ball fell to Chris Dagnall having hit the woodwork and he was tripped by Aaron Lescott but still managed to fire a shot over the bar. It was a clear foul by Lescott and had Dagnall stayed down the referee might well have pointed to the spot, but Dale were denied once more, to the player’s disbelief.

The wind was in Bristol’s favour for the second half and they looked to take advantage early as Haldane raced onto Walker’s pass down the left. Bristol found themselves three on two but Haldane was selfish in hitting a tame effort at Gilks and ignoring his team mates.

The home side continued to enjoy long spells on the ball and began to look more threatening with it but when they did get in front of the Dale defence, not an easy task with James Sharp putting in an excellent stint in his second game for the club, they were creating chances against a goalkeeper who was continuing his superb start to the season. Gilks twice denied Walker, tipping his volley round the post and then superbly keeping out a point blank header from the Rovers forward after a deep Sammy Igoe cross.

Sandwiched between Gilks’ excellent stops was Dale’s second and strongest claim for what looked to be another clear penalty. Gary Jones got to the by-line after a strong run and hit a pin point cross that was sailing straight onto the head of substitute Ernie Cooksey until a two handed shove from Ryan Green denied the Rochdale midfielder. The Dale fans and players were incensed as referee Wright waved away the protests for a third time.

The referee then capped off a shocking afternoon by gifting the home side a spot kick at the other end. Steve Parkin and his players stood aghast as Wright adjudged that Sharp had fouled Haldane despite having got both feet firmly on the ball after his robust challenge. The Bristol fans could not believe their luck and Walker was probably still in shock when he struck his penalty straight down the middle and Gilks saved with his legs.

Bristol did all of the late running but it would have been a killer blow for them to score a late winner after another hard fought Dale display, not least when Rochdale had the decision making of Mr Wright to contend with. The players certainly deserved a point from this encounter but there is no getting away from the fact that Dale need to get their first win on the board soon. Whilst it would be remiss to deny that Dale lack potency in front of goal, a bit of help from the officials certainly would not go amiss in assisting their cause.

Steve Parkin spoke about the urgency for a win: “The fans were great today, they were good to the players and to me. We appreciate their patience but they need a win as much as we do and it’s got to be on Tuesday night [against Grimsby, at Spotland]. We’ve got to make sure we put in a performance that guarantees us a win. I can’t ask any more of the players than I’m getting, all I can ask is that the officials can give us that commitment.”