Gary Rowett slams a ‘blatant penalty’ which went against his Oxford United in the defeat to West Brom on Saturday afternoon.
That’s Tony Mowbray’s side third win in seven games since he took over in January, seeing West Brom climb up to fifth in the Championship table.
It’s however a sixth league game without a win for Oxford under Gary Rowett with the goals lacking, finding the net> just once in their past six games.
Oxford, who have won once away from home all season, went behind after 11 minutes, then pushed hard for an equaliser.
They had a good shout for a penalty when Swift looked to have blocked a shot with his left arm eight minutes from the end of normal time. The referee Sam Allison ignored appeals just like he did for when West Brom appealed for a handball by Matos in the first half.
He said, per Oxford Mail: “I’ve watched it again and it’s a blatant penalty. Cammy shoots and the lad’s arm ends up outstretched with a little bit of a kink in it, and it just catches him almost on the bicep and the ball diverts.
“You see seven players jump straight up instantly for a penalty. I think he [Allison] might’ve said to the players out on the pitch it wasn’t an unnatural position, but if your arm is by your side outstretched, then it’s a penalty. It’s as simple as that.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t get that. I think that’s another game where there is no decision in the penalty box for Oxford. It is what it is.”
You can see both in the highlights video below…
“I’m disappointed we didn’t get that. I think that’s another game where there is no decision in the penalty box for Oxford.”
Gary Rowett believes #oufc were denied a ‘blatant penalty’ in their defeat at West Bromhttps://t.co/Rkcy8x01uQ
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) February 23, 2025
Baggies boss Tony Mowbray said, per the club website: “We had a great level of control today. It was a step up from the control we had against Blackburn a few weeks ago when we lost 2-0.
“We penetrated better today and had a fair few shots, but still not enough on target and that’s something we need to work on.
“They had a chance at the end of the game with a long throw and the corners and if we don’t win the first contact then we might be talking about the game ending 1-1 instead of 2-0.
“The game shouldn’t have been so tight. We had a lot of domination and we have to be more ruthless around the box.
“I thought there was a lot of good stuff today and we played in their half of the pitch and denied them much of the ball. We’re going in the right direction.
“We work on playing forward in training. If you can put back-to-back forward passes together like the first goal then you’ve got every chance of cutting through teams. We’re delighted with that goal. It epitomised what we want to be and how we want to play. Hopefully we can score similar goals moving forward.
“I’m delighted for John Swift to see him score our second. He’s a quality footballer and he plays some great forward passes. It was a key goal for us. We were searching for the second and thankfully it came at the end.
“That result feels good tonight. I’m happy for the players and I’m happy for the supporters. I thought the support was amazing for the whole 100 minutes and I thank them for that.
“It’s important the team and the supporters find and feel a togetherness because it will help us win more game.
“We try to keep a clean sheet in every game we play. We were close against Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday, but conceded in injury time in both of those. It’s not as if we were miles away from it. It’s nice to get one and we’ll do our best to get a fair few more between now and the end of the season.”
Twitter users reacted as Gary Rowett slams ‘blatant penalty’ which went against Oxford in defeat to West Brom…
@mintygreen2: Wow that has to be the worse ref I’ve seen in years didn’t know the rules body checks Cam and doesn’t stop the game 2 pens not given onto to next week #oufc
@RichOUFC: Robbed of another penalty 🤬 #oufc
@nutkinsarmy: 100% a penalty. Arm is so far out. #OUFC
@oxfjack: No excuse for us being shite but how on earth is Sam Allison a professional referee 😭😭
@Mikeyoligy: Was pretty poor for both sides today, in many different facets of the game. Probably both should’ve had a handball pen, so at least cancels out? But he should be miles better.
@wbaethan: Terrible for both sides. Has been everytime he’s come down to The Hawthorns this season too
@wba_joe: He is terrible
@Dannyoufc: He’s a ex swin academy player too believe it or not
@Ottovonidiot: He is absolutely useless. Has history with us as well so no idea why he keeps getting put on our games?
@jackwba77: Terrible ref for both teams tbf no clue
@Jamesclle: Week in week out fans have nothing good to say. I guess he meets certain criteria … because he’s one of the most consistent poor performers as referees go
@AlistairAr15629: Agree we had him earlier this season and he was shocking. Both should have had penalty’s for handballs today
@wba_ah: terrible for both sides both shouldve had a penalty each
@evanwba: had him about 6 times now and he has been shite in every single one of them games
@lukecrowther121: Soon as I saw he was reffing it I knew it was gonna be a shit show the blokes a clown
@mellorswba: He was shite for both teams at least, but yeah he is dreadful 😩
@sethlango: he was shite but for both sides. we should have had a pen too
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