Smith not happy at Mantom red card
WALSALL’S pursuit of the play-off places took a double blow as a Sam Mantom red card capped a disappointing defeat to Preston, and Saddlers boss Dean Smith claims the sending off cost his side.
An electric first five minutes saw each side grab a goal, though Paul Downing will want to forget his wayward back pass in the third minute which left his goalkeeper scrambling for the ball a la Rob Green before Mantom netted a welltaken equaliser.
The home side reestablished their lead on 29 minutes through Bailey Wright’s header, which Smith suspected was offside, leading to Walsall’s misery being compounded with nine minutes to play by the sending off.
“It’s a tough enough place to come anyway but there were certainly some strange decisions out there,” he said.
“It was a good tackle from Sam and he got the ball first. It was a strange decision and we’re very disappointed.We will appeal it.”
However, Preston manager Simon Grayson begged to differ with his counterpart.
“The ball has just bounced and Joe got it away,” he said.“The lad probably caught him half way up his shin. I’ve seen them given as red, I’ve seen them given as yellow.”
The match got off to a flying start as Downing took a risk in a playing back to Richard O’Donnell, a decision the centre-back instantly regretted as he could only watch his keeper miss the ball and make a futile scramble to stop it crossing the line.
“It was just a miscommunication and he [Downing] has passed it back thinking he [O’Donnell] was there and he wasn’t,” Smith reasoned. “It was a poor mistake.”
Despite the early setback Walsall put themselves right back in contention as Declan Rudd parried Mantom’s 20-yard strike straight back to the 22-year-old, who did not waste the second opportunity.
The game calmed down after the equaliser and both sides looked even until the home side pulled ahead just before the half-hour mark, a goal that Smith believed should not have stood.
He said.“It was a soft free-kick that led to their second goal, which we felt was offside as well.”
From then on Preston had the better of the play before Mantom challenged Joe Garner for the ball on 81 minutes and drew a straight red.
“It would have been a huge disappointment if we’d not won the game,” admitted Grayson.
“But we have and that’s all that matters at this stage of the season.”