Southend United boss Mark Molesley felt his side lost to a 'freak goal' against Bolton Wanderers and were 'cruelly punished' with the manner of their defeat.
The clash at Roots Hall remained goalless until the 82nd minute when Shaun Miller broke the deadlock to seal all three points for Wanderers and claim a third win in a row for Ian Evatt's men and extend an unbeaten run to five games.
Antoni Sarcevic's blocked shot appeared to come off the bar and was misjudged by Southend goalkeeper Mark Oxley.
It came off the crossbar and into Miller's path who slotted home his first league goal for Wanderers.
Molesley said that Miller must have thought 'all his Christmases had come at once' when he saw the ball fall kindly for him to finish.
But the Southend boss said that his side felt the ball had gone out of play, and that they were punished after switching off for a moment.
He told the club website: “I think I saw a goal like that about 14 years ago. There was a shout that it had gone off the pitch, but it’s held up in the wind and hit the back of the crossbar, and somehow spun out and come round.
"From our point of view, we thought it was off. There was a shout for it being off as well and it was just a real freak moment.
“In the second-half I thought we were really solid. I didn’t think we looked like conceding whatsoever and it’s taken an absolute freak moment [for Bolton to score].
"It’s flown over the crossbar and somehow spun back in off the top of the crossbar, and their guy has done well to turn it home. He must have thought all his Christmases had come at once.
“It’s easy to say don’t switch off and make sure the referee has blown, but we just momentarily switched off for a split second because it was sailing over the crossbar. Somehow, it held up in the wind and spun back off the crossbar.
"Until that whistle is blown, you’ve got to be alive and alert to it and we weren’t. It was the only time in the game where we weren’t alert and alive to something, and we’ve been cruelly punished today. It’s a cruel game.”
