Ivic seeing red over Kelly lunge after a Mepham late show
CHRIS MEPHAM’S
95th-minute equaliser kept up Bournemouth’s unbeaten start and denied Watford a fourth straight home win.
But Hornets head coach Vladimir Ivic was left seething, believing the ‘assist’ for Mepham’s sucker punch came from a player who should have been sent off after just
90 seconds.
He wasn’t wrong. Lloyd Kelly’s dreadful challenge on Ismaila Sarr was brutal and referee Tim Robinson bottled it.
Bournemouth boss Jason Tindall said: “On another day it could have been a red card but I know Lloyd is not the type of character who’d purposely do something like that. I thought we deserved our point.
“Defeat would have been very harsh when we controlled much of the game.”
There was little love lost between the teams when they were promoted to the Premier League together five years ago and in a touching act of solidarity they escorted each other back down in July.
Kelly’s challenge was hardly the stuff of building bridges but Sarr soon got revenge, collecting Craig Cathcart’s raking pass with an exquisite first touch and firing in a low cross for Stipe Perica to score from 10 yards.
The Croatian striker was a surprise choice in the starting line-up ahead of top scorer Joao Pedro but his first goal for the club – on his first league start – vindicated Ivic’s decision.
Sub Etienne Capoue then sent Sarr clear but Asmir Begovic smothered his effort when he shouldn’t have had a prayer. And for all their urgency, the Cherries looked like being denied as Ben Foster went full-length to foil Dominic Solanke and Josh King, making his first start of the season, fired over.
But in the fifth of seven added minutes, Mepham turned in Kelly’s wayward shot from close range.
Ivic claimed Foster was fouled in the build-up and demanded more protection for Sarr who was kicked from pillar to post.
He said: “We can be disappointed with the result because we have conceded the goal so late but my players gave the maximum.
“I hope Sarr is going to be okay – it doesn’t matter who he plays for, we need to protect this kind of player.”
WATFORD: Foster 7; Kabasele 7, Troost-Ekong 6, Cathcart 8; Ngakia 5, Cleverley 6 (Quina (64th) 7), Garner 5 (Capoue (46th) 7), Chalobah 6, Sema
6; Perica 6 (Pedro 82nd), Sarr 7
BOURNEMOUTH: Begovic 7; S. Cook 6, Kelly 5, Mepham; Stacey
6, Lerma 5 (Solanke (18th)
6), L. Cook 7, Billing 7,
Rico 6 (Riquelme 85th); Danjuma 6 (Stanislas
(73rd) 6), King 7
STAR MAN:
Chris Mepham
T
Robinson