Football Holden rues the ‘penalty’ that was not given against Luton
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DEAN Holden was adamant Bristol City should have had a penalty at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night.
The Robins have slipped down to 10th in the Championship table after losing 2-1 to Luton but were never out of a Championship contest which opened up in the second half.
City went one down when Glen Rea volleyed in from a corner, before they responded through when Sonny Bradley turned a Nahki Wells cross into his own goal. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall settled the game with a 67th-minute low drive into the far corner of the net.
Following the game, the City head coach insisted his side deserved a lot more form the game - including from referee Gavin Ward.
“We’ve lost some games this season that we deserved to lose,” said Holden.
“I don’t think that tonight was one of them. We’ve created chances throughout the game, we’ve taken the game to Luton and we’ve ultimately lost it on two poor goals from our point of view - another set-piece (for the first goal).
“The second goal, we got too deep from the goal-kick and we gave the ball away cheaply. We weren’t able to muster any real pressure in that last 15 minutes.
The lads didn’t seem to have the energy to be able to do that - a couple were going down with cramp.
“I think we’ve played a way tonight that allowed us to create chances. We’ve moved it well on a really bumpy pitch. We hit the crossbar in the first half and we’ve had a stonewall penalty not given. We have to regroup and stick together.
Holden was then asked if he felt strongly about whether Antoine Semenyo was fouled in the first half, as the City bench rose in unison believing that the attacker had been caught in the box.
He said: “Yes, and there was one on Nahki Wells just before it, but you don’t sometimes get decisions like that, do you? I’m not sure how he (referee Ward) has not given it but he didn’t.”
Bristol City roll on to face Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday in their first game of 2021.