Boss Kevin Nolan frustrated with referee but admits ‘we weren’t good enough’

Northampton boss Kevin Nolan says he ‘expected better’ from Paul Tierney after criticising some of the referee’s decisions in the 2-1 defeat to Rotherham.

Sam Hoskins had a header controversially disallowed for offside early on before he then scored from the spot, but Rotherham levelled through Joe Rafferty in the second half.

Just as the Sky Bet League One game looked to be heading for a draw, Tierney – a Premier League referee – penalised Michael Jacobs for a foul and Josh Benson curled home the subsequent free-kick to win it.

“Paul is a better referee than that and I was really disappointed with him to be honest,” said Nolan. “It’s not offside and it’s never a free-kick at the end.

“I expect better from someone who is going to be in the Premier League in a few weeks.

“But I don’t want to talk about referees too much, I want to talk about us because we weren’t good enough today.

“They just put it on us, as simple as that. They put it on us and behind us and it created havoc.

“We couldn’t find a way to get back into it and get control back and keep possession and I’ve said to the lads they have to learn. I thought they looked a bit lost out there in the second half.

“The first half was fine and we were worthy of being 1-0 up and it could have been 2-0 with the offside goal but there are no complaints from me.

“Their first goal is poor on our behalf and the second one is a bit of magic from the lad from a free-kick that was never a foul.”

After his side’s first away win of the season, Rotherham boss Matt Hamshaw said: “I’m buzzing, absolutely buzzing, and it’s been a long time coming.

“To score a free-kick like that in the last few minutes, you can’t get a feeling like that anywhere else.

“I’m delighted for the boys and I thought they showed their character and quality in the second half.

“I felt we upped our tempo and we played with more purpose and I thought you saw the confidence coming back into the team.

“It’s been tough and I think the players have questioned themselves at times, and I saw it again after Northampton’s goal, but half-time came at a good time and we made positive changes.

“Luckily for us, the penalty decision didn’t come back to bite us. I don’t want to talk about it and I’ll let everyone else decide but I think it was really clear to see.

“In the end we got the win and it feels really good to get that monkey off our back.”