Gunn bemoans costly penalty

19 April 2009 15:59
On-loan Tottenham forward Giovani dos Santos rolled in a spot kick to put Ipswich ahead in Sunday's Championship clash at Portman Road after goalkeeper David Marshall was adjudged to have brought down striker Kevin Lisbie by referee Neil Swarbrick. Ipswich held on to win and leave Norwich a point adrift of safety with just two games remaining and Gunn insisted even Lisbie and Ipswich boss Jim Magilton were convinced it was not a penalty. Gunn said: "It's crazy, it seems to be every week I get stick from some fans for talking about referees but Jim said to me that he didn't think it was a penalty. "Kevin Lisbie said to me coming off the pitch that he wasn't going to get the ball. His momentum took him away and he wasn't even facing the goal when he went down. "There was minimal contact and the referee was back on the halfway line, he was miles away from it and Lisbie handballed it as well. "But the referee said it was a penalty and that's the be-all and end all." The Canaries next play next Monday night against Reading and could be relegated at Carrow Road if results go against them on Saturday. But Gunn insists the mood is positive among his players who can only concentrate on their own performance. He said: "We'll have to wait and see what happens next week. there are lots of games that could have an affect on our future but we can't worry about that. "We have a huge game on Monday night now and that is all our focus is on. "We stay confident, the fans were magnificent and were right behind us and if we can win both our games we'll be in with a shout. "A lot of managers have said to me that we are too good to go down but we are in the situation we are in. We have to win and do the business against Reading." Gunn's visitors had forged ahead thanks to a fine header from David Mooney but Alan Quinn fired the home side level after an inspired touch from Giovani. Giovani then converted the contentious penalty to cap a performance of Premier League quality which illustrated why Spurs were willing to spend over £4million to bring him from Barcelona last summer. Substitute Jon Stead then hit a late third to confirm a costly defeat for the Canaries - who grabbed a last-minute consolation through a penalty from Sammy Clingan. Magilton admitted the penalty decision was "contentious" - but also felt that Marshall was lucky not to be sent off. Lisbie hurdled the challenge from Marshall with apparently little contact being made but the goalkeeper was certainly fortunate to escape a card once Swarbrick had awarded the spot-kick. Magilton said: "Some you get and some you don't. "I never want to see a player sent off but why has he not even spoken to the goalkeeper? "It was a great break and he flipped it over the keeper and Kevin knows what he is doing and goes down. "The referee on another day may have not given it but it was a close one. I haven't seen it back so we just have to go with the referee's decision. "But if it is a foul, and it was because he gave it, then he has to go there. But he didn't even get booked. "It was contentious but in the second half we turned it up a notch and played some great stuff. "It was an important win for the fans and we deserved it in my opinion. Norwich threw the kitchen sink at us but we defended well and saw it out."

Source: Team_Talk