Robinson wants the ref sacked after loss
KARL ROBINSON has called for referee Ollie Yates to be sacked after Oxford were controversially denied a penalty in a loss at Gillingham.
Just two minutes after Tom Eaves had missed a spot-kick for the hosts, Jerome Sinclair appeared to be shoved over by Gills keeper Tomas Holy – only for Yates to wave the claims away.
To compound Robinson’s misery, Brandon Hanlan scored with two minutes left to secure Gillingham the points and knock Oxford down into the relegation zone.
“It’s an embarrassment. It really is. The referee will get away with it, he’ll referee again next week. He was poor. Get rid of him, sack him. Managers get sacked; why can’t referees be sacked?
“We’ve had him three times now – he’s been horrendous in all three. I want our players to be honest, I want them to have a bit of class and dignity, but it doesn’t get you anywhere with these referees unfortunately.
“The penalty we should have had for the foul on Jerome is one of the worst I’ve never been given.
“The penalty for them was a penalty – but their goalkeeper pushes Jerome first and then when he goes to claim it he pushes him again.”
Gillingham climb to 13th, eight places and four points above Oxford, and manager Steve Lovell insists they were good value for the win.
“This result will give everybody a lift when they look at the table” he said.
“We’ve got 10 games to go and winning on Tuesday is the priority now.
“To get a goal late on after what happened last week against us shows things can even themselves out over the course of the season. Across the balance of play we deserved to get the three points.”
Looking to claim three league wins in a row for the first time since October 2017, Oxford came close to scoring when Holy made a brilliant fingertip save to push Jordan Graham’s effort over the crossbar.
Luke Garbutt fired inches wide after a driving run through midfield and Gavin Whyte miscued his shot after meeting Sinclair’s delivery.
But it was Brandon Hanlan’s fifth goal of the season that sealed the points as he bundled the ball home from close range after Max Ehmer diverted Callum Reilly’s deep corner into his path in the 89th minute.