Morecambe boss Derek Adams questioned referee Ross Joyce’s performance after his 10-man team went down 2-0 at Harrogate in Sky Bet League Two.
Farrend Rawson was sent off having been shown yellow cards for conceding a penalty and a free-kick that were both ruthlessly punished by home pair Luke Armstrong and George Thomson.
However, Adams claimed replays showed the ball struck Rawson in the chest and not the arm for Armstrong’s 20th-minute spot-kick opener.
The former Mansfield defender was then dismissed midway through the second period despite arguing that he was fouled during the challenge with home attacker James Daly that led to Thomson’s stunning second goal.
Adams picked his words carefully at the final whistle but also argued that the officials missed another potential red card incident in the first half when Morecambe midfielder JJ McKiernan had to be substituted due to a head injury.
“In the first half, we had to take off JJ after he got an elbow to his head, which was hugely disappointing,” Adams said.
“He’s got a huge lump on his head but it was an incident that was missed by the referee and his assistants and probably could have been a red card.
“By then, the referee had given a penalty to Harrogate and, from the video footage we have seen, it looks like it came off Rawson’s chest.
“He didn’t have the greatest view and was maybe blinded, but he made the decision and they scored.
“Both of the centre-backs then got yellow cards and we made a decision to substitute one of them because of that in the second half, but it was probably the wrong decision as Rawson then got another yellow, even though he thought he was fouled first.
“Some major decisions didn’t go for us and, even though we kept pushing with 10 men, we still didn’t do enough over the 90 minutes to win the game.”
Home boss Simon Weaver was encouraged by the manner in which his side responded to a run of three successive defeats.
He said: “We showed great urgency in our performance and earned the right to play by winning the first and second balls. It was maybe a pressing of the reset button, because we came into the ring swinging.
“After three defeats, it’s perhaps easier to try and protect a lead when you go 1-0 up, so it was pleasing that we remained on the front foot and saw the game out.
“There were no passengers – we were in people’s faces and had winners out there on the park.
“It was a clear identity of what we want to be. You have to react to disappointments by not being passive and we certainly weren’t passive in this game.”
