Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson rages at last gasp penalty decision at Charlton

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was unhappy at substitute referee Alan Dale’s awarding of a penalty which denied the Dragons three points at Charlton.

His side had to settle for a 2-2 draw after Max Cleworth was adjudged to have handled the ball – Parkinson confronted the referee at full-time to protest his decision.

The Wrexham manager said: “The ball comes in the box and the lad wins the header. It drops down and hits Max Cleworth on his arm, which is low and by his side – it’s never a penalty in a million years.

“We’re relying on the referee to get the one big decision in the game right, and he got it wrong.

“It’s very frustrating. The ref has cost us two points today, in my opinion.

“The quality of the performance was very, very high for us today – we were outstanding.

“It was a performance which warranted three points.

“You can see the way the Charlton fans and players celebrated at the end shows what a good team we are. They have celebrated the point as if they have won convincingly.”

Charlton manager Nathan Jones broke his habit of not watching penalties as Matty Godden successfully converted in the seventh minute of stoppage time to salvage a point for the Addicks.

The former Coventry striker confidently dispatched his penalty after Alan Dale, who started as fourth official until a leg injury forced referee Sam Purkiss off, spotted that Max Cleworth had handled Miles Leaburn’s header.

Wrexham twice had the lead, initially in the 16th minute when a wicked Tom O’Connor free-kick clipped off Conor Coventry with Addicks keeper Will Mannion only able to fumble the ball over the goalline.

Macaulay Gillesphey equalised with his first goal for the hosts with a looping header from Josh Edward’s cross over goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo.

Phil Parkinson’s side went back ahead in the 72nd minute, substitute Andy Cannon pouncing inside the box before Godden kept his composure from the spot for his fifth goal of the campaign.

“It’s the first time I’ve watched a penalty for about eight years,” said Jones. “We have had two penalties here and we’ve missed them both, so I thought it isn’t doing me any good.

“My only thing was I thought they were going to give it to Danny Hylton and that he would try the Panenka – so I was literally having kittens.

“It was a fair result. Statistically we have been better and we should be, because we’re the home side. But I don’t think either deserved to win it, just for us it feels like a point gained and two points dropped for them. We were in exactly the same boat on Tuesday night (drawing 2-2 at Barnsley).

“We’ve got to do the basics better, if we do the basics better we win football matches.”

Both clubs extended their unbeaten runs in the league to four matches, with Wrexham third in the standings.

Elliot Lee also struck the crossbar against his former club in the first half after Ollie Palmer had dummied Dan Scarr’s cross.