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Coventry City 1 Barnsley 1: Tykes cruelly denied after controversial late penalty
REFEREE Steven Cook and linesman Martin Dexter sparked angry scenes at the Ricoh Arena last night as Barnsley were denied victory by a controversial stoppage-time penalty.
Click here to read Simon Davye's response to the last-minute heartache.
The Tykes were just seconds away from a win when Coventry City striker Freddie Eastwood appeared to volley a shot into the chest of defender Rob Kozluk.
Cook signalled for a corner but was persuaded to award a spotkick instead by Dexter who clearly felt the ball had struck Kozluk on the arm.
How Dexter could possibly have had a better view than the referee is hard to fathom given his position at the far side of the incident.
Coventry defender Elliott Ward scored from the spot and the draw left Barnsley just two points above the Championship relegation zone with two games to play.
Stewards raced onto the field at the final whistle as Barnsley players surrounded the officials.
Midfielders Hugo Colace and Anderson De Silva were both booked for complaining about the penalty kick.
Barnsley had been ahead since the ninth minute when Daniel Bogdanovic scored his fifth goal of the season.
Coventry's season had fizzled out weeks ago and, with only one victory in the last 10 games, the Sky Blues were ideal opponents for a Barnsley side desperately needing points.
It took only nine minutes for Bogdanovic to break the deadlock. The striker, who had been out of sorts against Reading at the weekend, was more than a little lucky to get two bites of the cherry for his goal after initally getting the ball stuck under his feet.
Jamal Campbell-Ryce was the architect of the move, creating space on the left flank before delivering a good low cross.
Bogdanovic eventually managed to send a scuffed shot goalwards – and there was just enough weight on the ball to take it past the wrong-footed Keiren Westwood. Four minutes later, however, Bogdanovic's luck deserted him as he committed the sort of miss that haunts any striker.
Jon Macken laid the ball into his path this time – only two yards out. The back of the net could and should have been bulging yet somehow the striker failed to ram it home and got the ball tangled up between his feet again.
Buoyed by this lucky escape, Coventry so nearly made Bogdanovic pay for his howler.
Defender Ward had a 25-yard drive headed off the line by Kozluk and, from the subsequent corner, Ward smashed a header against the bar.
Barnsley showed greater zest going forward thanks to the return of Campbell-Ryce while Adam Hammill was also lively.
Both wingers curled shots narrowly wide in the first half as Barnsley pushed for a second goal.
Coventry supporters demanded more adventure from their side as half-time approached; Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele had only one save of note to make in the first period to deny Danny Fox.
When the referee signalled for half-time, it sparked a chorus of jeers from the home crowd. In stark contrast, the Barnsley supporters, of which there were just over 700, had every reason to be satisfied at that stage.
Frustration began to turn into agitation after the break. Fox and Hammill were warned by the referee and Eastwood was spoken to after an off-the-ball incident sent Kozluk tumbling to the deck. In the closing stages, Ward was booked for trying to drag Kozluk off the field when getting treatment from the physio.
Barnsley's defence came under far more pressure in the second half. Kozluk cleared a shot from Michael Doyle off the line and Anderson got a toe on the ball to deny Robbie Simpson.
With 18 minutes remaining, the loss of Souza on a stretcher offered an even greater test of Barnsley's resolve. The Brazilian, who had not started since refusing to sit on the bench against Crystal Palace last month, went down off-the-ball and was clearly in some distress.
There were no centre-backs on the bench so Davey had to shuffle his back four. Stand-in captain Bobby Hassell moved inside from right-back and Kozluk swapped flanks. Substitute Mounir El Haimour went on at left-back, arguably the biggest concern. If Macken had just been able to get a heavier touch on a Bogdanovic cross, the last 10 minutes might have been comfortable for Barnsley.
As it was late pressure resulted in the controversial spot-kick, three minutes into added time.
Coventry City: Westwood; Osbourne, Ward, Turner, Hall; Gunnarsson, Beuzelin (Cain 74), Doyle, Fox; Simpson, Eastwood. Unused substitutes: Marshall, Grandison, Walker, Wynter..
Barnsley: Steele; Hassell, Souza, Moore, Kozluk; Campbell-Ryce, Anderson, Colace, Hammill; Macken, Bogdanovic (Odejayi 85). Unused substitutes: Muller, El Haimour, Teymourian, Devaney.
Referee: S Cook (Surrey).
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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