BURNETT ATTACKS ‘PATHETIC’ DECISION
DAGENHAM boss Wayne Burnett pulled no punches in his assessment of the officials after his side were pegged back late at Wycombe.
Matt McClure struck against his old club after just six minutes and the Daggers looked the more comfortable in the Adams Park heat.
Aaron Pierre scored his second goal in as many games deep into injury time to earn the Chairboys a point, but that was not what riled Burnett.
Just before half-time, Charlton loanee Ayo Obileye had a headed effort disallowed for offside after a long conversation between referee Darren England and his assistant.
“It was a goal,” fumed Burnett. “These decisions change games and can cost people their jobs and they don’t understand that.
“It was a very flippant decision that the linesman made. He’s got it wrong and it was pathetic. It wasn’t good enough and it’s cost us three points.
“I’m disappointed because it feels like a defeat. I’m not sure where he got six minutes of injury time. I asked, and kept getting told ‘I’ll tell you in a minute’.”
Burnett, however, was not interested in laying any blame at McClure’s door after the goalscorer had been shown a second yellow card 15 minutes from time.
“McClure is a committed player,” he added. “He’s still a young man and he needs to learn.”
Wycombe were far more positive after the restart, signified by a Garry Thompson volley, which flew narrowly over after 12 seconds. The hosts remained patient, working the ball neatly in their final third, but without much reward. Jason Banton came on with just over 20 minutes remaining and immediately flashed an effort past the far post.
To their credit, Dagenham & Redbridge didn’t look like a team at the foot of the table, with Nyron Nosworthy organising the defence in the face of increasing Wycombe pressure and increasing frustration from Wanderers.
However, McClure’s late foul on Sido Jombati gave him a second yellow card with 15 minutes to go.The dismissal set up a classic finish with Stephen McGinn testing Liam O’Brien, and the pressure finally paid off when a Michael Harriman cross found emergency striker Pierre who scored to give both sides a deserved point.
And Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth was delighted to see Pierre pop up at just the right time.
“He’s fantastic in the air,” he said. “He took the plaudits last year. He was a game winner on Tuesday and point-rescuer here.
“We changed formation twice in the second half to get something out of the game, and I’m pleased, but there’s plenty to work on.
“We’ve got some intelligent boys and we just needed to get our foot on the ball and play through midfield which we did in the second half.
“It took us right until the last minute to score. It wasn’t good enough and I’ve told the players that. Crawley will be a tough game, but I’m sure we can get something out of it.”