NIGEL PEARSON had no complaints over Irish midfielder Mark Sykes’ sending-off that marred Bristol City’s first Sky Bet Championship win of the season.
But the Ashton Gate boss felt Luton’s Luke Freeman should also have been red carded for his reaction to the lunging 67th-minute tackle on him that caused a fracas among several players.
Nahki Wells shot the home side ahead on five minutes from Alex Scott’s pass and Tommy Conway fired in from Andreas Weimann’s 28th-minute cross to reward a dominant first-half display.
It was only after Sykes was sent off that Luton came into the game. Freeman appeared to barge him over with his chest in retaliation and referee Lee Doughty decided a yellow card was sufficient for the Luton player.
Pearson said: “In the modern game, I can’t complain about Mark’s red card, although in my time as a player I would probably have been applauding him for the tackle.
“But how their player stayed on the pitch I don’t know. Officials have influenced all our games so far and tonight we should have had a penalty when Rob Atkinson was fouled.
“I have empty pockets because of expressing my views on refereeing decisions over the years, so I gave it up long ago.
“I would rather talk about a really positive performance from a team including a lot of young players offering real encouragement for the future.
“Our fans have gone home having seen a display of real commitment and I am happy for them because we have caused them quite a bit of frustration.
“Tonight we didn’t make the mistakes that hurt us in our first home game against Sunderland and even after the sending-off we coped well defensively.”
Luton remain without a win in four Championship games and boss Nathan Jones pulled no punches with his assessment of his team’s performance.
He said: “We were outfought, outrun and outdone at all the things we are normally good at.
“On reflection, I may have picked the wrong team, but there was no excuse for the way we started the game, which set the tone for what followed.
“They had more energy than us and were quicker to the ball. That doesn’t often happen to us and it is a concern.
“We tried to play offside for the opening goal, which we don’t do. We are struggling to score goals at the moment, but you have to set a platform by defending properly.
“I made changes at half-time, but to be honest we could only be better in the second period after that first-half performance.
“It was only after the sending off that we got any sort of grip. It was a bad tackle, but I was disappointed with Luke Freeman’s reaction.”
Spot on Farrell. This isn’t mind games, Wales are a great side and the game could really go either way this Sunday. Tightest game of the round by a long stretch.
@Ultan Corcoran: this is the worst Welsh team in 15 years.
@Chris Mc: completely untrue.. they managed two wins and a draw over two championships finishing 5th both in 2006 and 2007 six nations and were eliminated from the group stages in the 2007 WC. This welsh team is made up predominantly of players who have been to a world Cup semi final, some having been to two, and as recently as 2019 won the GS. Even Ger Gilroys lobsidded moustache knows this
@PScald: ger Gilroy from off the ball is always stoking the fire, looking for a reaction. Wales may of been playing very poorly but cannot be written off. Wreckon it will be a tight game. COYBIG!!!
@Anthony O Connell: GG is a self serving POS and a complete hack..
@PScald: agreed. I like off the ball besides him
@Chris Mc: Is there really such a thing as ‘worst’ in test rugby? I don’t think so anyway. I would really really hate it now if the Welsh were to beat us, and that isn’t sarcasm, it would just be painful for all those dismissing Wales on here in recent posts and their ability, in a 2-horse race over 80mins. Anything can happen. Again…tight game and hoping Ireland will get the win by 3-7pts.
@PScald: so worst team in 14 years then
@PScald: since gatland finished they have been poor. They do have some good players but like their club sides lack any direction and show very little substance. It the Ireland 23 want to win and dont shoot themselves in the foot we will win handy enough.
@Chris Mc: sure, I dont necessarily disagree but it’s not what you said originally.
@Patrick Breen: how about make these judgements on a team 2 years on from a grand slam and WC semi final after the tournament
@PScald: form changes quick, and they’ve had a very poor season, in a similar way to us in 2019, but worse
Ireland are at their absolute worst when we’re heavy favourites, and Wales have something to prove. We’ve also won four in a row against them, so there’s no way they’re not going to show up, especially at home.
@Anthony James McLaughlin: Heavy favorites? I think we’re 2 or 3 point favorites
@Ricky Wright: Oh I wasn’t going off the bookies odds, more just the tone of the rugby press and people on social media.
I hope sexton has the Corona vaccine. A man of his age is in the vulnerable bracket!!!!
@Kevin O’brien: good one…
@Kevin O’brien: Painfully unfunny, even by your standards kEvInNnNn
Whatever we think of Ger Gilroy, it is ridiculous to see so much energy wasted getting all pissed off about it. Radio show host makes comment most people disagree with. People getting irate over nothing. He made the headlines. Job done.
@Ricky Wright: his job is to make headlines? Sorry, I thought he was a sports presenter
@Ricky Wright: it was tongue in cheek they were slagging themselves over the same comment they made back in 2019 about
There is no doubt that wales are in a bad run of form and the coach is under serious pressure to keep his job for the future.
This is why he has gone back to his experienced players but I believe that those players are just past their sell by date.
They are still very good players but I think there best days are past them and their age has to be catching up with them
I’d like to see an improvement with the line out , maul and defence. Even if we don’t win the game tomorrow you could take comfort if you saw these areas improve.
I’m still sticking with my original comment , Ireland to win by a one score game .