Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson criticised the display of referee Edward Duckworth in his side’s 2-0 League One defeat at Reading.
The Royals made the breakthrough in the 51st minute when Duckworth awarded a penalty for Eoghan O’Connell’s challenge on Jayden Wareham, with Harvey Knibbs slotting home the resultant spot-kick.
Lewis Wing doubled the lead five minutes later but Reading had to hold out for the last 15 minutes with 10 men after Duckworth sent off centre-back Michael Stickland for time wasting – his second yellow card.
Wrexham stayed in third place but would have gone second – and into an automatic-promotion slot – had they claimed one point.
“I felt that the first half showed that the two teams had had hard games on Saturday. It was all a little bit flat,” former Reading player Parkinson said.
“Reading had a lot of possession and were a bit too comfortable at times for our liking. We spoke about that at half-time.
“And then in the second half, the ref’s given them a penalty. It was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen.
“It’s one of the softest penalties I’ve seen for many a year. How he could give that is absolutely incredible. You had to see it to believe it.
“Clearly, it was the ref’s big night tonight. We’ve got a bit of history with the ref and I think that he’s been waiting for this moment.
“If he thinks that that’s a penalty, then we’ve got problems. Of course, it gave Reading a huge lift and we could’ve done better for the second goal.
“After that, then Reading’s sending off. For them, that was a poor decision from the ref.
“But we’ve had plenty of chances after that. I felt that if we had got one back, we’d have got right back in the game.”
Reading stayed in eighth place, just two points off the play-offs.
“On Saturday (in the 1-1 draw at Crawley), we rushed it a bit too much at times,” Royals manager Noel Hunt said.
“We could have put our foot on the ball and played a bit more, especially in the second half.
“So I spoke to the boys about that, for them to show that they had the character and the personality to pass and move.
“I was really pleased with that tonight. And I thought that Jayden (Wareham) was outstanding. He was a real handful up the top end and was very reliable.
“And he did great to win the penalty, to make the ball his. He got there before O’Connell.
”The Stickland sending off was ridiculous. I just can’t waste my breath with it.
“The ref was so quick with it (red card). He didn’t even give Michael a warning. We’ll have to check whether we can appeal it.”
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