BROWN IN BLAST AT REF CARL
SOUTHEND manager Phil Brown blasted referee Carl Boyeson for not sending off Christian Burgess as Portsmouth prevailed by a single goal at Fratton Park.
The incident in the 45th minute eclipsed all the mediocre goalmouth action that had preceded it in a game dominated by defences.
As Pompey could only halfclear a Southend attack, Simon Cox picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area and fired in a powerful shot which Luke McGee was completely out of position to save.
But there was instant relief in the home dugout as Burgess got his body in the way to block it.
Yet assistant referee John Ferris summoned the attention of referee Boyeson and insisted Burgess had used his hand, leading to the visitors being given a penalty.
The huge boos of displeasure ringing around the Fratton Park stands changed to deep sighs of relief as Southend’s Nile Ranger promptly blasted his spot-kick way over the crossbar.
And while Brown held back from criticising Ranger’s wayward effort, he was less restrained in addressing Boyeson’s thinking.
“If there was a handball and he gave a penalty for the stoppage on the line, then he should have sent the player off and he didn’t,” said Brown.
After the match, Portsmouth manger Kenny Jackett claimed he was too far away from the goalmouth action to see whether it should have been a penalty or not.
The irony for Brown was then to see Portsmouth regroup after half-time and snatch all three points thanks to their top scorer Brett Pitman.
He took his tally for the season to 12 with a glancing 54th-minute header.
“I was really disappointed to lose that game because we had enough chances in the first half to take the lead as well as the missed penalty,” added Brown.
“Then in the second half we did not have enough quality.”
Meanwhile, Jackett was thankful that his goalkeeper McGee had earlier made a brilliant full-stretch save to tip aside a curling 22yard shot from Theo Robinson in the 19th minute and for Ranger’s miss.
“It was a hard-fought win for us and that was a great save but I must congratulate my players for digging deep after half-time,” he explained. The way they came back showed their strength of character.”
And he was clearly happy with his own decision to replace Kyle Bennett in Pompey’s midfield with Matty Kennedy. The latter responded to the recall by supplying the cross from which Pitman scored what proved to be the only goal of the game. “Matt Kennedy turned the game for us,” said Jackett. “Not only did he provide the cross for the goal but he used a lot of wide space for us which made a big difference to how the second half unfolded.
“Kennedy gave us much more penetration and his distribution lifted the whole side.”