Steve Davis says first half penalties were soft
Steve Davis says that both penalty kicks awarded against his team on Saturday were dubious. Chuks Aneke was penalised for a tug at a corner but the resultant penalty was missed by Kevin Lisbie, but minutes later George Ray conceded a second spot-kick for a sliding tackle of David Mooney. The striker converted his to make it 2-0.
Steve told the club’s official web-site that both first-half penalties were soft: “I thought the first penalty was harsh. Chuks was blocked off at the corner and the referee didn’t see that and both sets of players had been pushing and pulling all game.
“When it was given I said to the fourth official that the pulling ad pushing happens in the box every week at corners, free-kicks and throw-ins. The Orient players had been complaining about Abdul (Osman) previous to the corner and the referee was looking out for it, so when there was contact he didn’t hesitate to give it.
“They are 50/50 challenges that go on all the time and it was soft. The second one is a bit more straight forward and you can see why the referee has given that one, but George (Ray) says he got a touch on the ball. It is difficult to draw conclusive evidence from the television angle to see if he did or not.
“When you go to ground, you run the risk but I was happy with the way the players responded. We got them together at half-time and we played some decent football in the second half.”