Powell left with a 'sour taste' as two 'blatant' refereeing errors cost Luton

Hatters assistant boss Chris Powell hit out at two ‘blatant’ errors from the officials that cost the Hatters dearly during last night’s 2-1 defeat at Stevenage, also calling for VAR to be used in League One.

The first arrived with the game a fairly even contest, Luton doing well early on, but the hosts then having some momentum of their own, as Liam Walsh looked to hold on to the ball under pressure from Daniel Phillips, who was walking something of a disciplinary tightrope, having already been booked for scything down Jamie Donley.

With the hosts’ midfielder all over his back, and quite clearly pulling his shirt, everyone inside the ground expected the whistle to go and Town to be awarded a free kick. Referee Andrew Humphries, who had a truly appalling first 45 minutes with some utterly comical decisions, not getting any better as the game went on either, didn’t feel there was anything wrong with the incident, and somehow allowed play to carry.

That enabled Dan Kemp to gather the loose ball, race forward, and with Town’s defence back-tracking to the safety of their own area, unleashed a 22-yard drive that flew into the corner of the net, although Josh Keeley should have done far, far better in keeping it out. An incensed visiting bench were up in arms, boss Jack Wilshere sent off for his ensuing outburst, which meant he couldn’t take the post-match press conference, and had to watch the rest of the game from the changing rooms.

Trailing 1-0, Luton were then attempting to find their way back into the contest during the second half, admittedly barely testing home stopper Tommy Setford, before Aston Villa loanee Ben Broggio was freed on the left. He showed a willingness to attack that Town simply hadn’t, getting into the box and seeing his cross-shot deflect off Keeley and then rebound into the net off a clearly offside Josh Magennis to double the advantage.

Although Luton pulled one back quickly, Mads Andersen inadvertently deflecting Kasey Palmer’s volley beyond a wrongfooted Setford, they never once looked like equalising during the closing stages, as they extended their lengthy winless run in Hertfordshire, with a last victory coming way back in 2014.

Speaking afterwards about the decision not to give a free kick on Walsh, a dismayed Powell said: “Everyone in the whole stadium is expecting the referee to blow. I know you shouldn’t stop, I get that, but when it’s as blatant as that, you’re hoping that the officials spot it and they work together and they make the correct decision. It’s quite clear what happened, you can see it live and you see the replays, and it just confirmed what we saw.

“It’s a high threshold, but you’ve got to understand that fouls are fouls. You understand when someone is trying to deceive the referee, or the officials, but not when it’s clear like that. That’s not Walshy deceiving anyone, that’s a clear pull and he’s impeded Liam. It’s not given and it should be. At 0-0, we’re in the game and we are controlling a lot of the game.

"I say controlling, I would say that maybe final third wasn’t enough, but we stood up to what they are. Long balls, set-plays, long throws, we stood up to it and did really well in that respect as that’s what you have to do when you come here. Jack and the staff, we prepared the boys for that and I felt we were definitely in that. Did we work the keeper enough? Maybe not, but you’re in the game if decisions don’t go against you the way they did this evening.”

In the aftermath of the goal, Wilshere was then dismissed for his response to the officials, having to leave the dug-out, as on what he said afterwards, Powell continued: “He apologised to the staff and the players. He’s an emotional, talented young manager and he’ll come again. It’s not easy, the pressure’s on, but he’ll learn, he’ll accept it, move on and just carry on the way he has done since he’s walked through the door. He had to watch it in the dressing room, he was on the speaker, he had the earpiece with Tim (Corcoran, first team coach) and relayed stuff and we were telling him stuff.”

Meanwhile, the manner of Magennis’s second goal was yet another huge error, the Northern Ireland international clearly ahead of the play when the ball struck him, but once more the officials failed to spot it, as the goal stood. Powell continued: “The second goal is offside. I get it, officials have a tough job, but surely there is an argument for VAR at this level as it can cost teams points, can cost people jobs. It’s a clear offside, so they’ve scored two goals, they’ve won the game when actually they had a helping hand.

"It’s tough for the officials, I get that, as they have a split second. We have the advantage of seeing it again, they don’t, but you just hope that the way they work, there’s four of them, with an assessor, that they make these decisions. It’s a tough one to take, it really is. They’ve missed two key incidents which is huge, at any level, it’s huge, but we just have to move on.”

With Luton also having been on the wrong end of two controversial decisions in their 4-3 defeat at Reading on the opening day of the season, an offside goal allowed to stand and then Kal Naismith shoved over too, it saw Powell double down on his request for VAR to be brought in at the third tier, saying: “It should be, I think so. If we had it tonight it would get pulled back for the first goal and then offside.

"There is a cost element, there really is, I think there’s a staffing element, because the amount of VAR assistants and referees you have to have in Stockley Park or somewhere else, but that’s where the game’s going it looks like. It’s in the Premier League, but should it filter down? Personally I think it should. If it’s in the game, it should be in the game for everyone.”

Meanwhile, questioned as to whether he was able to talk to the officials afterwards to find out just why they made the calls they did, Powell added: “They don't want to speak. When I was walking off the pitch, I said ‘look you’ve cost us, I’d like you to make better decisions.’ I’m not going to go personal, because it’s tough for them, I understand that, I really do and without them we don’t have a game, but you just want it to go for you.

"We understand they’re human and they make decisions as they see them. When they’re clear, that’s when it’s hard to take, but no I haven’t spoken to him and I don’t want to get sent off, so I won’t be doing that. It does leave a sour taste, it really does when it can be as blatant as it was for the first goal, and then you’re hoping that the assistant referee sees that’s offside.

"Of course they have one take, we see the replays on TV, on our phones, on laptops by the dug-outs, but you’re just hoping that those decisions are what they practice, it’s what they are, to make sure that things like that don’t get missed. You speak to them, but ultimately decision’s made, they can’t reverse it and they're just going to stick with it. It’s disappointing, but that's how the game is sometimes.”