LUFC Both managers critical of referee

Both bosses were critical of the performance of referee David Webb after Leeds and Portsmouth shared six goals at Elland Road on Tuesday.

Grayson was particularly annoyed when Webb waved away what looked a clear Leeds penalty after McCormack was brought down by Sonko.

Speaking in the YEP, Grayson said, 'It was a big decision. I asked the referee why he didn't think it was a penalty and he said that he just didn't think it was a foul. His linesman was 15 yards away and right in front of it.

'I thought he (Webb) was very average for both teams. McCormack had a stonewall penalty turned down. Our fans are knowledgeable and they wouldn't give the referee the stick he got coming off the field for no reason. I'm not going to say how good or bad the referee was. I'll just say I thought our fans were right.'

Even Portsmouth boss Steve Cotterill admitted he thought it was a foul by Sonko on McCormack but wasn`t sure whether it was inside the penalty area or not.

Cotterill also felt that his side didn`t get the decisions in the first half and questioned the appointment of Webb who is only in his third year on the national list.

The Portsmouth boss also commented in the YEP, when he said, 'I don't know the referee's experience and I haven't seen him before but when you've got big games like this today...I'll bet you there was a more experienced referee refereeing in front of 10,000 people somewhere.

'Good luck to him but do you think this is this the right game to give him? I personally don't. But we deserved to come out of it with at least a draw.'

Webb also disallowed what looked a perfectly good Ross McCormack goal for a foul on the keeper as the Leeds fans became more and more frustrated as the afternoon wore on.


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