Boss David Flitcroft fumes at linesman after Mansfield Town are denied vital equaliser at Oldham Athletic

Disappointed Mansfield Town manager David Flitcroft says the linesman guessed when ruling out what would have been a crucial last-minute equaliser for the Stags at Oldham Athletic.
Danny Rose has his goal ruled out.Danny Rose has his goal ruled out.
Danny Rose has his goal ruled out.

Disappointed Mansfield Town manager David Flitcroft says the linesman guessed when ruling out what would have been a crucial last-minute equaliser for the Stags at Oldham Athletic.Danny Rose thought he had levelled at 3-3 to earn a precious point that would have been enough to take the Stags into second place in the race for automatic promotion.Rose reacted first to turn in the rebound after Jacob Mellis hit the post.But the Stags’ celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s offside flag.Flitcroft said: “Luckily I have seen it again. You get that opportunity to have a look at it and you can see quite clearly.“As I was coming off the pitch I waved up to Lee Hendrie, who was doing the commentary, and he had a great view. They can see it again and he (the linesman) has just guessed at it.“I thought at the time he had guessed. As soon as it has come off the post Danny has reacted and he is onside at that point. He is not in line with it.“You want someone to get that decision right and 3-3 would have been a just result from a committed performance from two teams who didn’t want to let up. It was heated, passionate and commited. We tried to fightback and I thought we had done it.“It would have probably been a good end to the game but it was chalked off by a decision that was wrong.”Tyler Walker had given the Stags’ hope with a goal on the hour after they trailed to strikes from Gevaro Nepomuceno and Mohamed Maouche.Nepomuceno struck again in the 67th minute before Neale Bishop set up a tense finish with a goal 14 minutes from time.