Unhappy Coleman fumes at ref Haines
JOHN COLEMAN was left angry that his Accrington Stanley side were denied a penalty despite seeing them fight back for a share of the spoils at Doncaster.
Offrande Zanzala struck an 82ndminute equaliser to stretch Accrington’s unbeaten run to five matches after John Taylor had put Doncaster in front.
But Coleman felt his side should have had a penalty in the first half when Jordan Clark was tripped in the box.
“We’ve had our customary penalty turned down again,” he said.
“I don’t know what we’ve got to do to get a penalties anymore. People just seem to be able to trip our players up in the box and not give away a penalty.
“It defies belief. I think everyone in the ground thought it was a penalty part from the referee and the linesman.
“They scored on the counter because we were camping out on the edge of their box. That was a body blow.
“But we’ve matured over the last month because we might have gone under.
They put us under a bit of pressure but we stood firm.”
In an open firsthalf, Tom Anderson and Jordan Clark both missed good opportunities for their respective sides, but the hosts finally broke the deadlock after 57 minutes when Taylor finished well after latching onto an excellent through ball from Madger Gomes.
Rovers looked the more likely to add to their score for much of the second period but Accrington got the leveller after 82 minutes when Zanzala poked home from close range.
Rakish Bingham missed a glorious opportunity to grab a late winner for Doncaster when he miscued a free header while Seny Dieng produced a brilliant save to deny Seamus Conneely at the other end.
Doncaster boss Darren Moore felt the equaliser should have been chalked off for offside. “You’re always disappointed to concede a goal from a set play but the boy is offside when he makes the initial contact,” Moore said.
“The linesman sees Cameron John, but he doesn’t see the boy. If you look to the letter of the law it’s an offside but he gets the goal. We’re disappointed with that, but we have to take it on the chin and move on.
“Defining moments have not gone for us in games recently. We’ve not had the rub of the green.”