York City 2 Sutton United 2
Paul Doswell admitted 10-man Sutton United were awarded two soft penalties as his side rescued a last-minute point away at York through captain Jamie Collins.
It was a game of three controversial spot-kick decisions which began with Collins giving the visitors the lead in the 17th minute after Craig Eastmond was tripped in the area by Simon Heslop.
The lead was short-lived with Daniel Nti equalising seven minutes later before York had a strong penalty claim waved away after the break with Roarie Deacon fouling Daniel Galbraith.
It looked as if York were going to register their first win in 12 games as Galbraith turned the game on its head from 25 yards and Sutton had Dean Beckwith sent off for two yellow cards with 14 minutes to go.
But in the last minute of normal time, Collins would ensure Sutton left with a point, converting from the spot again after Dan Fitchett went down under a challenge from Sean Newton.
And Doswell revealed he had sympathy for York boss Gary Mills over the penalty claims, but that Sutton deserved the point.
Doswell said: “I thought the first one was a soft foul for them to give away because he should never have made the foul on Craig.
“I thought the second one was more of the same because it was a soft penalty at best. The lad committed himself to tacking and didn’t get the ball.
“If they were given against us I would have been disappointed.
“I thought they should have had a nailed-on penalty in the second half as Roarie Deacon did bring him down.
“We’ve had the better end of the decisions today, there’s no doubt about that.”
The draw sees United move to within one point of the top half but had it not been for the heroics of York goalkeeper Scott Flinders they could quite easily have left with all three points.
Doswell was full of praise of his side and highlighted the role Collins played in the second half after Beckwith was dismissed.
Doswell added: “I thought their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves – especially the one from Dan Fitchett within the first few minutes of the second half.
“With ten men we showed real battling qualities so we’ve come away with a point in a tricky away fixture.
“We’ve been awarded two penalties with Jamie scoring both and that goes against the grain of us missing penalties.
“Jamie has taken responsibility and he’s done very well under pressure. He’s gone different sides of the goal for both penalties which is always a test.
“He’s produced a captain’s performance and he’s come off the pitch like Terry Butcher with blood pouring down his head.”
