Tierney is the target for Neil’s outburst
A SEETHING Neil Lennon pointed the finger squarely at referee Paul Tierney after his side’s drab draw at Blackburn.
In a fiery north-west derby, Bolton were twice denied penalties in the first half when both Zach Clough and Mark Davies appeared to be tripped inside the box – by Shane Duffy and Craig Conway respectively – from the same attack.
Tommy Spurr and Emile Heskey both had chances cleared off the line in the latter stages, but those were the only attempts on target in a lacklustre affair.
Both sides remain winless so far this season, and to add insult to injury Lennon now has to contend with a ban for Dorian Dervite after he was sent off in time added on for a second bookable offence.
And while holding Tierney responsible for the result, Lennon also was ruing Heskey’s miss late on as he somehow squandered what would have been his 14th goal against the East Lancashire club.
“I thought the referee was appalling,” he said. “There is contact in the back of Clough and he’s gone down. Then Davies has gone into the box and Conway’s dangled leg has taken him down.
“Nine times out of ten it’s a penalty, but we weren’t going to get anything from him. His performance was a constant source of frustration.
“There was one stage where he actually did give a free-kick but we didn’t want it because we were breaking four against three.
“Dervite’s sending off was stupid and I’ve told him that. Modou Barrow was going away from goal, he’s on the touchline. He doesn’t need to make the challenge.
“Emile’s had a great chance. He’d only been on the pitch five minutes. Maybe that was the reason why we drew the game.”
Meanwhile the result does nothing for Blackburn boss Gary Bowyer, after Rovers had to deny reports last weekend that claimed he had been sacked.
Jordan Rhodes twice headed wide in the first half, while BengaliFode Koita’s late finish was chalked off for offside, but Bowyer defended his side’s effort.
He said:“We created several great opportunities, the first half especially, we just needed a little bit more care in that final third.
“You saw the effort and commitment from the players, a tremendous honesty from them.We’ve got to keep working away and it will drop for us. Then we’ll be up and running.
“I also thought the fans were terrific with their encouragement, they never stopped.
“If the effort or the commitment wasn’t there it would be plain to see, but you can’t argue against that.
“The chances are still coming and that is the most important thing.”