Steve Evans fumes at ‘disgusting’ penalty decision in Bristol Rovers defeat
Rovers lost 1-0 in a game Shrewsbury ended with nine men.
Bristol Rovers manager Steve Evans branded the penalty decision that condemned his side to a 1-0 defeat at Shrewsbury “utterly disgusting” in a game that saw the winners finish the game with nine men.
George Lloyd’s 77th-minute spot-kick proved decisive as the hosts returned to winning ways in League Two despite the late dismissals of Jay Turner-Cooke and Isaac Fletcher.
Turner-Cooke was dismissed nine minutes from time before Fletcher also saw red in added time, but Shrewsbury held on for all three points.
Evans, whose side have lost five of their last six league games, was left furious by the penalty decision.
“I think it was a poor game, even by League Two standards,” he said.
“It was two teams that were battling for a win.
“We just looked off it in the first half and made some changes and I think we were the better team in the second half.
“We’ve commanded more of the ball and kept more of the ball and then we’ve just watched an absolutely disgusting decision.
“You look at that one today and it’s just got no place in football. We’ve had it week after week now and I’m fed up listening to the head of referees apologise.
“First and foremost he’s offside for the set play coming in and then he falls to his knees and gets a penalty.
“It’s an utterly disgusting decision from a referee who I thought wanted to make it all about him today.
“I’ve got no excuse about our performance, but I’ve maintained for a long time that decisions and goals change games and that was a disgusting decision.”
Shrewsbury boss Gavin Cowan, whose side have now lost once in six league games, said: “I’m just so proud of my players for their attitude and the way we’ve worked.
“Our performances have been really consistent and that’s three wins and two draws in six now, so I’m really proud of the players today and everything we asked them to do they did well.
“I’m not sure about the penalty and if we were ever going to get one, it was probably going to be one that probably shouldn’t have been.
“So I’m not sure how much of a penalty it was and I’ve not seen it back, but we had one in the first half that was absolutely crazy.
“We made it about us today, we were excellent without the ball without really knowing what they were going to do.
“Then in possession we were superb, but we still want to be better in those areas because the performances are convincing.
“The performance today was probably as good as Exeter and even though we won 1-0, we could have been out of sight.”