Source: Team_Talk
Allardyce: Ref cost us final place
Rovers, and in particular striker Niko Kalinic, brilliantly turned a remarkable second leg of their semi-final at Aston Villa on its head with the young Croatian striker scoring a brace inside 26 minutes to put the visitors 2-1 ahead on aggregate.[LNB]But with Blackburn in control and Villa all at sea, Atkinson then failed to spot a push from Gabriel Agbonlahor on captain Ryan Nelsen, allowing former Rovers defender Stephen Warnock to rifle the home side level on the half hour.[LNB]From that moment the momentum shifted Villa's way, and when James Milner scored from the spot 10 minutes later after Chris Samba was dismissed for a foul on Agbonlahor, the writing was on the wall for Blackburn.[LNB]After the break 10-man Rovers conceded three goals in nine minutes, sparked by an own goal from Steven Nzonzi, followed by a Milner strike that deflected off Agbonlahor and an Emile Heskey effort.[LNB]Blackburn at least restored some pride via a stunning overhead kick from Martin Olsson and a volley from Brett Emerton, only for Ashley Young to finish matters in injury time for a 6-4 win, 7-4 on aggregate.[LNB]Allardyce, though, was far from happy with Atkinson, heaping a significant portion of blame onto the official for the demise of his side's final dream.[LNB]"It's a bit difficult to take, scoring four goals and not getting through to the final," reflected Allardyce.[LNB]"We were in complete control of the game, and if anybody was going to score again it was us.[LNB]"But then the referee allows a blatant foul on Ryan Nelsen to go unpunished, and at this level you have to make sure the referee gets those decisions right.[LNB]"We are out of a cup final because of that decision perhaps. It is a major decision that has stopped us having the chance to go to Wembley.[LNB]"Whatever anybody might say, we were put in a position we should not have been put in.[LNB]"It lifted the crowd, it lifted Villa because they were playing very poorly, and then they are on their game.[LNB]"You could look at the fourth goal and say Agbonlahor had two arms on it and deflected it into the net for 4-2.[LNB]"Everybody thinks it's over, we're down to 10 men anyway, but then we managed to get back to 5-4.[LNB]"But the major part of us not getting through to the final is the referee, no question about it.[LNB]"Unfortunately, we have to suffer that. There's nothing we can do about it and we can't go to where we want to go, which is Wembley, and he is the major factor."[LNB]Allardyce did at least suggest his defence could have been tighter, only to draw himself back again to criticising Atkinson.[LNB]"There are obviously some areas where we can shoulder the blame for giving the goals away," added Allardyce.[LNB]"We've conceded six goals, and some of those we could have stopped, but the critical stage of the game is there for everybody to see.[LNB]"The big problem is that if a big decision goes against you at a critical time in the game, it makes a massive difference."[LNB]Ultimately, with the exception of Samba's red card, Allardyce had no complaints with his players, stating: "It was a gallant effort.[LNB]"They didn't feel sorry for themselves and kept going to the very end.[LNB]"I've nothing but praise for the way they've applied themselves in the end."[LNB][LNB]
