Referee got the key decisions wrong, according to Charlton boss Garner

Charlton manager Ben Garner was critical of referee Neil Hair for getting two critical decisions wrong in the defeat to MK Dons on Tuesday night.

Losing at home for the first time this season, goals from Will Grigg and Bradley Johnson ended Dons’ five-match losing streak in League One, but both goals came from decisions which got the back up of the Addicks boss.

Louie Barry was downed by Ryan Inness on 65 minutes, having already been booked, with Hair pointing to the spot and showing the Charlton man his second red card of the season, but Garner claimed the incident was outside the box and barely a foul.

He also claimed George Dobson’s tackle on Dawson Devoy was a fair one, but the subsequent free-kick was curled into the top corner by Johnson with 12 minutes to go.

“I don't think it's a foul, first and foremost,” said Garner. “He (Barry) has taken the defender's line and they've gone shoulder-to-shoulder, and he's gone down easy, and it's two yards outside the box. It's a poor decision.

“I told the referee he has to be 100 per cent sure in those decisions, and he said he was. But it's two yards outside the box and it's not a foul.

“And for the free-kick, it's clear Dobbo gets the ball, I don't know what he's looking at.”

Despite the incidents though, Charlton struggled to create anything meaningful to test Dons keeper Jamie Cumming - only a Jesurun Rak-Sakyi effort early in the second half forcing the keeper into anything of note.

Garner continued: “For the amount of possession we had, we didn't create enough. They sat 4-5-1, made it difficult for us and we needed greater tempo on the ball. We had it at the start of the second half for 15 minutes. You have to take the opportunities when they come, but as soon as we went down to 10 men, it was difficult.

“In the first half, we were ok, but needed a bit more tempo and cutting edge in the game. We addressed that at half-time and we started the second half really well - we were on the front foot, penned them in, create opportunities and I felt the goal would come.

“But the penalty and red card have changed the game and given us a mountain to climb. It was one of those evenings unfortunately.”