Barton smarting after 10-man Fleetwood are held by Rochdale

Posted Sunday, January 20, 2019 by PA

Joey Barton had to bite his tongue after seeing his Fleetwood side reduced to 10 men during the 1-1 Sky Bet League One draw at Rochdale.

His Fleetwood side were one goal up, courtesy of Paddy Madden’s first half header, when on-loan Lewie Coyle saw red for a challenge on Joe Rafferty in the 53rd minute.

Barton felt it was a harsh decision and was aggrieved it had been made by the referee’s assistant, who was even further away from the incident than himself.

Dale went on to dominate the rest of the game and deservedly levelled through Ian Henderson in the 75th minute, Fleetwood surviving the second half onslaught to take a share of the spoils.

Barton said: “I can’t really tell you the truth about how I feel because that would get me fined and suspended.

“It’s happening far too often and something has got to be done about it.

“At half time we were the only side who were going to win it, we were creating opportunities, much the better side and they were fortunate to go in only one goal down.

“The sending-off definitely changed the game and it’s frustrating because the referee hasn’t given the decision, the decision to send him off was given by the linesman who was five yards further away from the decision than me!

“We are absolutely devastated at the decision.

“We will probably end up with another player having a red card rescinded, but that is absolutely no help to us today. The ref was in the better position – the linesman cannot take a guess.

“It was backs against the wall after that and it gave them all the impetus they needed and we were hanging on at the end to salvage a point.

“I’m buzzing with the lads because they just dig in, they don’t know when they are beaten – even if at times it is in an unjust manner.”

Coyle struck the woodwork with a curling 25-yard effort before Madden’s glancing header put Fleetwood ahead in the 36th minute.

But after his dismissal it was all Dale, with on-loan Manchester United midfielder Ethan Hamilton going close twice before Henderson headed home Stephen Dooley’s cross.

Home boss Keith Hill said: “We found ourselves in a situation that has become the norm in the last month, a goal down but we’ve stopped the rot, drawn a game and got an extra point, so it’s something for us to take forward into our next game at Barnsley.

“It’s not easy playing against 10 men and it was important that we stayed in control. The opponent could potentially counter-attack us because they still had a lot of pace on the pitch, but I thought we dealt with it well.

“I just need the players to relax and destress on the football field. We know there are consequences to any result, but if you can’t be calm, composed and think about what you are doing then we will all get lost.”