Dickov angry as Mick dreams
ONE manager compared his captain to a Brazilian legend while the other screamed foul play claiming his defender could have had his leg broken.
Welcome to the crazy, highpressured world of the last few weeks of the football season.
Ipswich Town’s pursuit of the play-offs appears to be heading down to the wire after this win over Doncaster Rovers, who have their own fight at the wrong end of the table.
And in keeping with the insane world of the Championship, a rather tepid match livened up in the latter stages with two late goals, three vital saves and six nervy minutes of injury time.
It ended in controversy with Luke Chambers firing in a 86th-minute winner as Doncaster defender Gabriel Tamas lay prone on the ground following a hefty tackle by Luke Hyam.
Rovers boss Paul Dickov, a spiky player in his prime, equally pulled no punches in his assessment of referee Graham Scott’s involvement in the winner.
Dickov said: “I feel really hard done by. It was a blatant free-kick on Tamas – he was lucky not to have his leg broken.
“Tamas has six studs down his shin. It is the inconsistency that is so frustrating. I am going to see the referee to talk to him. I can't tell you what I am going to say – it would be unprintable.
“I don’t want to see anyone get sent off but it wasn’t just a foul, it was a red card.” The contentious incident was not in keeping with a rather lifeless match that appeared to heading towards a comfortable 1-0 home victory.
That man Tamas and his defensive counterpart Tommy Smith had the best of the limited first-half chances before Daryl Murphy headed home his 13th of the season with little over 60 seconds gone in the second half.
But the game burst into lfie on 83 minutes. Doncaster were handed a lifeline when impressive young left-back Tyrone Mings clumsily tangled with Mark Duffy and Chris Brown calmly slotted the penalty in.
But less than three minutes later, Chambers took advantage of a rebound to rifle home.
There was still time for nerves to be jangled, Ipswich keeper Dean Gerken saving from Brown and Duffy before Frank Nouble wasted a golden opportunity at the other end.
McCarthy backed his midfielder Hyam but admitted Tamas was fouled after seeing the replays.
The Town boss said: “It was a must win. There are big games coming up and it is exciting to be part of it.We have a chance of getting promoted to the Premier League.
“If you can get in the play-offs, one team has to win. It might be a side who gets sixth and has momentum – like us, or Bournemouth or Brighton. We would all provide difficult opposition and the play-offs are such a lottery.”
And of his skipper Chambers, who has spent the season playing right back instead of his more favoured central role, McCarthy added: “The defence have chipped in with goals and Luke Chambers has been excellent having played out of position all season.
“Luke took a bang to the head in the second half and then thought he was Carlos Alberto!”