Source: Team_Talk
Lambert fury over Crofts red card
orwich boss Paul Lambert blasted referee Trevor Kettle for his decision to dismiss Andrew Crofts in injury time of the 2-2 draw with Burnley.[LNB] Crofts struck in injury time to earn the hosts a point at Carrow Road, only to see his jubilation cut short as the midfielder was given his marching orders by Kettle after picking up a second yellow card.[LNB]Earlier, Martin Paterson's brace put Burnley on course for victory, but Chris Martin's goal - assisted by Crofts - paved the way for the latter to pop up with a 90th-minute leveller.[LNB]But Lambert could not contain his anger at Kettle despite rescuing a draw - admitting he thought the official would put him in for a "hard afternoon" from the outset.[LNB]Lambert said: "As soon as I saw who was refereeing I thought it was going to be a hard afternoon.[LNB]"I thought there was a foul on Simeon Jackson in the lead up to their first goal and he didn't give it and then he couldn't wait to get his card out when he sent off Andrew Crofts.[LNB]"He was like a magician. On top of that the first booking for Crofts wasn't even a foul.[LNB]"It was always going to be a tough game against a good side like Burnley but was even more difficult with the referee having one of those days."[LNB]Burnley manager Brian Laws refused to entertain talk over the performance of Kettle, although he did have complaints of his own after claiming Crofts' leveller should have been ruled out for handball.[LNB]Laws said: "There are no ifs, buts and maybes about it, it was a definite handball. The ball clearly hit his forearm and the video evidence shows that, although the referee has had a look and still says it hit him on the chest."[LNB]Laws said his players must learn how to close out games after gifting away a two-goal advantage.[LNB]The Clarets had looked good value to take all three points following Paterson's pair of first-half goals, but said they could not afford to lose points if they were to mount a play-off challenge.[LNB]He added: "Today, for the large part, we should be blaming ourselves because the contrast between the first-half performance and the second-half performance was ridiculous. After the break we looked a totally different side.[LNB]"We have got to learn how to win games. We should have kept on doing what we were doing in the first half but we overcomplicated things and, to their credit, Norwich came back at us.[LNB]"If we play like we did in the first half we'll soon start winning games, if we play like we did in the second half we won't. If we are going to find a way out of this division we have to find a way of doing it."
