Gavin Cowan hails AFC Telford spirit after Ellis Deeney red
AFC Telford boss Gavin Cowan is facing the prospect of being without key midfielder Ellis Deeney for three of his side’s remaining games.
Deeney was dismissed for an alleged stamp 20 minutes from time during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at league leaders Chorley
However, his 10 team-mates dug deep to level the scores with an 87th-minute penalty by Brendon Daniels, which delighted Cowan: “I wanted the lads to stay in the game and to get something out of it, because we played well in parts.
“I think we can be our own worst enemy at times, but when we’re good we can be really good.”
Both Cowan and Chorley manager Jamie Vermiglio were critical of referee Barry Lamb’s performance.
Of Deeney’s dismissal, Cowan said: “Ellis is just absolutely bemused as to what’s gone on.
“Apparently he’s stamped on someone, but he’s absolutely adamant that’s there’s been a tackle, their legs have come together, he’s run one way and their player’s run in the other and the next thing you know their crowd are getting in the assistant’s ear and we get a crazy decision out of nowhere.
“I’m a big advocate of referees, and I appreciate they have a difficult job to do, but I don’t know what planet this referee was on; not just for AFC Telford, but for both sides.
“I’m not saying it would have been a different result, but we do have to have that consistency.”
In terms of his team’s response to falling behind to an early Andy Teague goal, Cowan said: “We gave them a 25-minute head-start in terms of desire, because we didn’t really get near them, but ultimately when we got them out of possession and started playing our patterns, we were getting a lot of joy, and that led to an obvious penalty that wasn’t given for Daniel.”
The penalty Cowan referred to saw former Bucks keeper Matt Urwin bring top scorer Daniel Udoh crashing down as he attempted to round him and score, another decision that had the manager baffled: “I sent my staff in to speak to him, because I was concerned that he might send me off, and his very words were ‘Yes, he touched the player’.
“I’m sorry, but that’s a penalty for me, and if we score it then it’s a different game.”
