Stockport boss Dave Challinor slated referee Ben Speedie for “an absolute shocker” in awarding Leyton Orient their first goal as the League One play-off semi-final first-leg clash ended 2-2.
Charlie Kelman, looking suspiciously offside, gave the O’s a first-half advantage but two goals in five second-half minutes by Ollie Norwood, from the penalty spot, and Fraser Horsfall put the Hatters in front after 65 minutes.
But Kelman, League One’s leading scorer, was to have the last word when he netted from the spot to record his 23rd goal in the league this season after Horsfall was adjudged to have handled.
Challinor said: “Massive kudos to our players for reacting in a positive way to a decision which was the worst I’ve seen in my 15 years of management in what was the biggest game of my managerial career.
“I said earlier on this season that unfortunately promotion and relegation will be decided by not the two teams playing football.
“I’ve not spoken to the referee or linesman as of yet but the processes are all completely wrong. That was an absolute shocker. When someone is four yards offside that’s really worrying.
“I can understand now why there is a scramble to get robots involved and stop human error because incidents like today cannot happen.
“People are putting tens of millions of pounds into football and things can be dictated by a flag and a whistle and that’s not a good place to be.
“Credit to the players after the way they performed in the second half. Would I have taken that before the game? Arguably yes but we need to recover and set ourselves up for Wednesday evening which will be a massive game.”
O’s boss Richie Wellens insisted it was superb entertainment for the crowd.
He said: “It was a great spectacle and something the supporters can be proud of.
“It ebbed and flowed both ways. Our press was off but the first goal we scored gave us a lift and I thought we were the better team for the last 20 minutes of the first half.
“Second half we didn’t get to the ball and kept giving it away. They kept putting balls in our box, we gave a penalty away and then conceded a set-play goal.
“It was my fault as I had two players ready to come on but it was catch 22. I didn’t make it and possibly could have got them on before we conceded.
“I was told our first goal was offside. It’s difficult to see from where I am.
“I’ve said before the referees have a huge impact on games at this stage of the season but I believe we should have had another penalty.
“Jordan Brown’s absence was a big loss for us so hopefully we can get him back for Wednesday.”
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