‘It starts to look uneven’: Brackley boss fumes at costly decision

Brackley Town boss Gareth Dean was furious with the ambiguity of the penalty decision that saw the Saints suffer a narrow 1-0 defeat to Chester on Saturday, November 7.

Connor Woods’ last-gasp spot-kick was enough for visitors Chester to depart St James Park with all three points in a tight National League North encounter.

Gareth Dean felt Brackley Town were treated harshly by the referee in the 1-0 defeat to Chester. | Brackley Town FC

placeholder image — Gareth Dean felt Brackley Town were treated harshly by the referee in the 1-0 defeat to Chester. | Brackley Town FC

Following a disappointing first-half performance, Brackley improved in the second period but their chances of victory faded when midfielder O’Shea Ellis was sent off.

The late penalty, a controversial one given there were a lot of bodies in a congested area, was another big decision that went Chester’s way, while Ewan Williams was sent off soon afterward to leave Brackley with nine men in the closing stages.

“The preparation for the game felt perfect with the detail. It’s just a case of being lacklustre and lacking energy,” Dean told @BrackleyTownFC afterwards.

“I can’t put a finger on that because they had a good week and looked fired up coming out. Then the whistle went and I didn’t see that in the performance, which I’m really angry about.”

Dean was pleased with the reaction from his players in the second half, with a far better success rate in duels and more opportunities created in the final third.

But it was ultimately the penalty that decided the game and Dean was far from content with how the officials went about their business.

On the penalty call, Dean added: “I think they were trying to get a lot of blocks. There was a lot of physical contact in the penalty area.

“If you’re going to start giving penalties for that, you want clarity and none of them (the officials) could give any clarity.

“For me, I’ve not seen the crowd here react like that in 10 years of football.

“I said to him as he (the referee) walked off, it gets to the stage where we’ve had a couple of penalty appeals, Tom Peers goes late on Coops (Charlie Cooper) and doesn’t get a yellow…

“When you look at the balance of the decisions, it starts to look uneven. Whether they watch back those moments and can provide clarity, I don’t know.”

Brackley, fired up by the Chester result, will be eager to respond this Saturday, November 14, away at Hereford in the FA Trophy.