“I think there’s been a bit of uneven decision making today. It’s disappointing but I guess that’s football” Gemma Donnelly felt key decisions did not go Rovers’ way in Sunday’s Continental Cup defeat at Sheffield United. Rovers were reduced to 10 men just 14 minutes into the game when Chelsey Jukes was adjudged to have handled the ball on the line. United scored the resulting penalty and used their player advantage to find the net a further three times either side of the break.
Saffron Jordan then rounded Blades ‘keeper Emily Batty in the second-half, and when her goalbound shot was blocked on the line by Leandra Little, no penalty was given. “We should have had a penalty,” Donnelly said speaking after the game. “I think there’s been a bit of uneven decision making today. It’s disappointing but I guess that’s football.
“The sending off, I’ve watched it back and it’s inconclusive. I can see why it may have been given but it completely changes the game. “They’ve gone 1-0, we’ve gone down to 10 players. We’re on the back foot, it’s just so hard to get back into it.
“We got a penalty in the end but we should have had one before that for exactly the same and we haven’t got it. “We can make all the excuses in the world but the fact is we’ve been beaten by a strong team. “Well done to Sheffield and good luck for the next games.”
The Rovers boss reserved praise for her team, who battled until the end and finally got a reward for their efforts when Saffron Jordan converted a 78th minute penalty. “I’m as proud as I could be of the girls for putting in a shift today and limiting 11 Sheffield players to the chances that they had. “We’ve had our backs against the wall for a good portion of that game but we did not lay down and let them just walk all over us.
“We’ve created our own chances, we’ve got a goal at the end and I don’t know how many consecutive corners we had at one stage. “I’m not suggesting we could have won the game, but it could have been 4-2 or 4-3 at some point.” Tickets for Rovers’ home games against Liverpool and Crystal Palace are now on sale!