Dickov: It was a fiasco

Referee Richard Clark was in the spotlight after the goalless stalemate as Notts County hung on against a dominant Doncaster side.

Despite bossing the match and wasting numerous chances, Rovers were almost beaten by a wonder strike from Magpies veteran Alan Smith, whose early 30-yarder struck the bar. But Clark's initial failure to send off County striker Kwame Thomas at the death, for giving him a second yellow for time wasting, resulted in a chaotic melee at the death which saw Notts boss Shaun Derry ordered to the stands and Thomas eventually being shown the red card, which meant sub Billy Daniels had to return to the dugout. "It was a fiasco from start to finish," said Rovers boss Paul Dickov. "I feel sorry for the lad who was sent off and for Shaun [Derry] as well as the ref should have dealt with any bit of time-wasting a lot earlier than that. "Rather than talking about the referee I would rather talk about my team getting another result." County assistant manager Greg Abbott had sympathy for Clark, adding: "To be fair to the ref if he had realised it was his second one he would have come over and ushered him off without showing him another card. "I have never seen a sending-off like that. Once he had shown the yellow he had no alternative but to show him the red." Rovers dominated for much of the match, with Harry Forrester and Curtis Main going close on several occasions, while Nathan Tyson had a shot hacked off the line, but they weren't helped by an inspirational performance from 37-year-old County keeper Roy Carroll. Abbott admitted: "Roy put in a performance we have got used to. He makes saves when defenders can't quite make the blocks and his double save near the end was absolutely outstanding. "We defended very well, it was the right way to defend. Rovers have some really decent players and we have had to defend by getting bodies on the line. "It wasn't all one-way traffic as we came closest to scoring when Alan Smith hit the bar. We'd like to be more of an attacking threat at times but sometimes you're only as good as the opposition lets you and fair play to Doncaster." Dickov was left to reflect on a missed opportunity that would have seen his side climb an amazing seven places into the play-offs. He said: "We had enough chances to win two or three games, let alone one. I am pleased with the performance, though. If you can't win games then you have to make sure you don't lose them but this is a game we should have won. "There was a little bit of frustration there but it keeps us on this little run."