Evans angry after Vale defeat

Last updated : 29 December 2013 By Deano

A fuming Evans took a swipe at Vale striker Tom Pope and referee Rob Lewis after his team slipped to defeat.

After goals in either half had secured Vale victory, Evans accused Pope of feigning injury to get Claude Davis sent off early in the second-half and Lewis of getting the big decisions wrong.

The Rotherham boss wants to know why Vale defender Richard Duffy was not shown a red card after conceding a first-half penalty for a foul on James Tavernier, which was missed by Kieran Agard.

And Evans then slammed former Miller Pope, who rolled over near the touchline after he was allegedly kicked by Davis.

Evans said: "I've just looked at the sending off on the DVD and Claude kicked the ball from underneath Pope and has not touched the player.

"The way Pope rolled around as though he had been smashed was disgraceful. To get a fellow professional sent off like that is very poor. We will appeal that decision and if we don't win that one we might as well all give up this crazy game.

"And how the Vale lad (Duffy) wasn't sent off was an even bigger mystery. If that wasn't a clear goalscoring opportunity I don't know what is. Vale's second goal was also two yards offside and they are big decisions which have gone against us and affected the game.

"The referee will probably get a Championship game now for a reward. We did start the game sloppily and conceded a poor goal, but we had come through that and were playing our way back into it until things conspired against us.

"Several of my lads have played with a bug today and we lost Frecks in the warm up too, overall it's a hard one to take."

 

Source PA