Morecambe camp are left frustrated by a refereeing decision at Crawley Town

Morecambe boss Derek Adams said a controversial refereeing decision played a major part in his side’s 4-0 defeat at Crawley Town.
Morecambe's Ryan Cooney had a goalscoring opportunity at Crawley TownMorecambe's Ryan Cooney had a goalscoring opportunity at Crawley Town
Morecambe's Ryan Cooney had a goalscoring opportunity at Crawley Town

With the Shrimps 1-0 down, Carlos Mendes-Gomes was through on goal but was hacked down by Glenn Morris on the edge of the area.

The offence looked sure to bring the Crawley keeper a red card but, after several moments of discussion between referee John Busby and his assistant, a free-kick was awarded to Crawley for offside – much to the fury of the Shrimps’ boss.

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Adams said: “Carlos was cleaned out by their goalkeeper who we feel should have been sent off but it was given as an offside.

“There wasn’t a flag in the original incident, and if there had been, we would have understood the decision.

“But it looked onside to us on the video and it was a major decision against us that affected us.

“If Crawley had been down to 10 men it would have made a huge difference to the game but we lost a second goal not long after that, and from then, we didn’t defend well enough.

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“They scored a second goal and we gave them a soft third, and there was no way back after that and we had to defend to stop Crawley from getting any more goals.”

The decision was all the more galling for Adams, who had seen his Morecambe team look the more threatening of the two sides during the first half.

He said: “We had total control of the match in the first half, as much as we had been in control of any of the games we had played this season.

“We had a few good opportunities and got into some good positions but didn’t do well enough in the 18-yard box.

“Ryan Cooney and Adam Phillips had chances but we just weren’t able to get that goal which I’m sure would have made the difference.”