WARNOCK IN A RAGE AT ‘WEAK’ BOND
CARDIFF boss Neil Warnock was left fuming with referee Darren Bond after his penalty decision against Sol Bamba stalled his side’s promotion push.
Late goals in the second half – Gary Madine scoring from the spot, and Josh Vela’s effort – earned the struggling Wanderers a much-needed win in their battle against relegation. Phil Parkinson’s men are now just a point from safety.
But Warnock was fuming when, after 75 minutes that lacked any action, defender Bamba was penalised for a handball in his own area.
“Neither side did really create too many clear-cut chances, and then the penalty did us, it knocked us off really,” said Warnock. “You shouldn’t get things like that given in games like this in the Championship. When you have played the game, you know if it is a penalty and they have been very lucky.
“When you come up against a team like Bolton you want a strong referee. He isn’t a bad ref, but he was weak today.
“Some of their challenges were horrendous early doors, but if you have Darren Pratley and Karl Henry talking to the ref at every free-kick, they can have their influence, so who can blame them?”
On a crisp afternoon in Greater Manchester, both sides were reduced to half-chances, most notably when Bolton centre-back Mark Beevers threw himself into the path of Joe Ralls’ goal-bound effort to prevent Cardiff going in front, while Wanderers also had snapshots through Sammy Ameobi and Mark Little.
Warnock’s Bluebirds then had a goal chalked off on the halfhour as Junior Hoilett tapped home from close range only to see a late offside flag from the linesman.
The second half continued with little action on goal from either team, and having dealt with some pressure from the Welsh club, Bolton grew into the contest, with David Wheater’s 25yard drive thwarted by the head of Bamba, while the industrious Little also had an effort cleared as the home support raised the atmosphere in an attempt to rally the Trotters into action.
And they were rewarded when Bolton were awarded a penalty after Vela’s corner from the left was met by Wheater, and his header was adjudged to have been handled by Bamba. Madine stepped up for the resulting penalty, drilling his effort into the bottom left corner beyond the dive of Neil Etheridge to give his side a priceless lead.
And Wanderers made sure of the vital three points in the dying embers of the clash when Madine squared a neat ball to an unmarked Vela inside the area, and he diverted into the net. Bolton assistant manager Steve Parkin said: “We’ve had a bit of soul searching after last week’s result against Burton. We knew we had a tough game against a very good Cardiff team, they’ve been right up the top all season.
“Every man, one to 11, had to stand up and be counted on. They did it very well. The first half wasn’t pretty, but we performed superbly well and in these tight games, Gary Madine’s penalty and Josh Vela’s finish were big moments in the game.
“Finishing teams off is something we haven’t done enough of all season, and we did that today.”