Steve Evans criticised a “horrendous and game-changing” decision after Stevenage slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Blackpool.
Jordan Rhodes’ seventh strike of the season helped the Seasiders close in further on the Sky Bet League One top six as Owen Dale and CJ Hamilton also grabbed goals at Bloomfield Road.
And that inflicted a third defeat in four on Evans’ newly promoted Stevenage, who are suffering a mini-blip but still sit fifth in the table.
With the score at 1-0 just before the break, Jamie Reid thought he had pulled one back for the visitors only for the assistant referee to wave a late flag several seconds after the ball hit the back of the net.
Evans accepts his side delivered a below-par performance but insists it could have been different if Reid’s goal had stood.
He said: “I won’t stand here and profess that we’ve played well today.
“But the decision just before half-time was pivotal. It was game-changing for me.
“Jamie Reid was brave going in with the goalkeeper and he scores, but it seems it was then five or six seconds before the flag went up.
“That offside was a horrendous and game-changing decision, but we’ll just get another email now.
“That was horrendous from the assistant referee. He was in a good enough position to see that Jamie was onside.
“Obviously we don’t know whether it’s offside from our seat, but (Blackpool boss) Neil Critchley said to me at the start of the second half that he thought they’d got away with that.
“We’ve absolutely no complaints over 90 minutes, but big moments in games happen all the time and we just have to accept them.”
Stevenage threatened early on when Reid’s powerful 20-yard strike was well saved by Dan Grimshaw.
The Seasiders replied with Kylian Kouassi’s looping header being punched effectively clear by Taye Ashby-Hammond.
Rhodes broke the deadlock after 37 minutes when he instinctively diverted skipper Ollie Norburn’s initial shot past a flat-footed Ashby-Hammond.
It was almost two nine minutes after the restart when Kenny Dougall thumped a 25-yard free-kick against the crossbar.
Dale did make it 2-0 bang on the hour mark when he lashed home an angled shot via a deflection off the unlucky Terence Vancooten.
Hamilton confidently slotted home Blackpool’s third late on after playing a tidy one-two with veteran Rhodes.
Critchley said: “We knew we’d have to fight very hard to get anything today – it’s never easy against a Steve Evans side.
“They’re tough and they have a method that they stick to and they’re very good at it.
“It’s a really good win for us though, and a clean sheet is very pleasing.
“We’ve had a bit of luck here and there, particularly just before half-time with their offside shout, but we’ve had decisions go against us too this season, and they do tend to even themselves out.
“This just keeps us moving forward in the right direction now.
“We need all of our players to contribute, and we saw that today.
“Sometimes you have to be patient, and expectations are different this season, but I’m delighted because I think this was a relatively comfortable win for us against a quality team.”
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