Torquay boss Knill mystified by referee Sheldrake’s decisions

And the Gulls boss believes the match official should have awarded his team a penalty for what looked like a foul by Town skipper Clarke Carlisle on Elliot Benyon midway through the second half.

Sheldrake gave 30 free-kicks for fouls and booked six players in a match that could by no means be described as a dirty contest.

Knill did not criticise the officials outright but was puzzled at a number of the calls they made during his side’s 1-0 defeat.

“The referee made some strange decisions all game and I don’t know how that isn’t a penalty when Elliot Benyon was tripped,” he said.

“To be fair it was the same for both sides and the officials didn’t seem to see what the coaches and players were seeing.”

Knill, who is managing Torquay in the absence of Martin Ling with a stress-related illness, was pleased generally with the way his team performed in the game but disappointed to see them lose to a goal in the 85th minute.

“This was always going to be a difficult place to come, given the league positions of the two clubs, so it was very disappointing to lose so late on,” he said.

“We weathered the early storm and then it was a pretty even game. In the second half we were growing into the game and deserved to get something out of it.

“To concede so late in the game was disappointing but even after that we had a couple of chances to equalise and we haven’t taken them. But there were some positives to take out of the game.”