Doncaster Rovers: Manager Dickov vents frustration at officials after loss

Goals from Luke Freeman, Greg Cunningham (penalty) and Aaron Wilbraham ensured an eighth away success of the League One campaign for League One leaders City, with a superb second-half strike from substitute Curtis Main in vain for Rovers.

A sour note in the game arrived 19 minutes from time, courtesy of a huge melee after Wilbraham caught Reece Wabara with a late challenge, which could easily have yielded a red card for the visiting striker.

Both sets of players and benches got involved in the fracas which followed, before calm was restored by referee Stuart Attwell, booed off at the end by irate Rovers fans.

Dickov, whose side failed to jump up into the play-off places on a night when Yorkshire rivals Bradford City, occupying the final top-six position, lost said: “We were on top and getting back in the game in the second half. I don’t want to see any players get sent off, but one of my players was kicked off the pitch when he had the ball in his hand and straight after that, Reece Wabara has been kicked from behind.

“The officials have seen both occasions and both are red cards. We (also) had one of their players diving blatantly, which was a yellow card and one of their players dive on the ball in the middle of the park and divert the ball away with his hands, which is a yellow card.

“Then, I get Richie Wellens booked for seemingly showing an aggressive attitude in the melee that happened afterwards.

“We just want the decisions to be right and if Richie has been booked, there could have been 45 people on the touchline booked. So why Richie, I don’t know.”

Rovers were second best in the first half and came in at half-time 2-0 down before a double substitution instigated a much-needed rally from the hosts, with Uche Ikpeazu and Main providing attacking support to lone frontman Nathan Tyson and rattling the Robins.

A strong spell was crowned by Main’s super 57th-minute strike to reduce the arrears to 2-1, only for Wilbraham to effectively kill the game with the visitors’ third on 69 minutes.

Dickov, whose side have now suffered back-to-back losses, having been beaten 3-0 at Port Vale on Saturday, said: “In the second half, I felt we quite comfortably matched a side who are top of the league and we penned them in their half and caused them all sorts of problems.

“The reason we did that was because individually, we wanted it a bit more.

“In the first half, I thought we were poor and didn’t think they were that much better, to be fair. But we gave away two silly goals; one that came from a ricochet which fell straight to him (Freeman) to give him a one-on-one and then a silly penalty.”