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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
John McDougall

Danny Cowley's penalty, handball and booking claims as Portsmouth draw with Bolton Wanderers

Danny Cowley felt Elias Kachunga 'bought' the penalty he won for Bolton Wanderers against Portsmouth and was one of several decisions he believes went against Pompey in the draw.

Aiden O'Brien put Pompey ahead early in the second half, after Dapo Afolayan had gone closest to breaking the deadlock before half-time and forced a good save from Portsmouth goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.

But Wanderers responded to going behind with Elias Kachunga coming off the bench to win a penalty and Kieran Sadlier fired home to earn Bolton a share of the spoils.

READ MORE:Bolton Wanderers player ratings vs Portsmouth - Kieran Sadlier & Elias Kachunga good

The point and results elsewhere on the night in League One means Wanderers sit 12 points from the play-offs with five games of their season left and any aspirations they had of reaching the top six this season are now realistically over.

After the encounter, Cowley pinpointed four big calls made by the officials which ultimately went against his side at the University of Bolton Stadium.

The Pompey boss questioned the bookings against Wanderers players Kyle Dempsey and Will Aimson, while he felt Kachunga 'bought' the penalty which Sadlier converted, and that George Johnston blocked a shot with his arm from Michael Jacobs which he hinted could have been a spot kick too.

He told HampshireLive: "I thought the key decisions went against us. I thought the referee refereed fine, but I thought there were probably four key moments that went against us and I’m not saying that they were 100 per cent one way or 100 per cent the other, I’m just saying that there were four of them and we were on the wrong side.

"There was Kyle Dempsey’s one in the first half. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it was live, so I’m just saying it as it is. I didn’t think it was a sending off, but when I watched it back, it was reckless and off his feet. It’s a bad tackle.

“Then, in the second half, there was the penalty decision. We coached Elias Kachunga at Huddersfield and as he came off the pitch, he apologised to Nicky (Cowley).

"He bought it, you’ve only got to look at how he falls to see that it was an unnatural way of falling. He bought it and I’m not criticising that because this is football.

“Then, I thought there was the Michael Jacobs one where he has a shot and the defender (George Johnston) spreads himself and it hits his hand.

“The fourth one, (Will) Aimson, had got a booking and then clattered through the back [of Aiden O’Brien] right in front of the dug out.

“I’m being fair, I’m not saying any of them categorically were or categorically weren’t. There’s four key decisions that were like that and I think all four have gone against us. I think that, and the fact that we didn’t have a little bit more final conviction in our in final action is the reason we didn’t win the game.”

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