Sannino disappointed not see out game

Beppe Sannino admitted that he was disappointed that Watford were unable to take a point from the Keepmoat last night after playing for over 70 minutes with ten men.

Watford were a man light from the 18th minute onwards after Mathias Ranegie was rightly dismissed for kicking out at Doncaster left-back James Husband after the pair tangled during a challenge.

It took the hosts just four minutes to capitalise on Ranegie’s moment of madness, striker Chris Brown nodding home from James Coppinger’s right-wing cross to give Donny the lead.

The sides should have been levelled at ten each when Rovers goalkeeper Sam Johnstone rugby tackled Troy Deeney after losing a 50:50 with the stand-in captain.

Referee Mr Sarginson clearly saw the incident differently and failed to award either the penalty or the red card the challenge merited.

Watford did dig out an equaliser in the 68th minute though, substitute Fernando Forestieri marking his return from injury by picking out Ikechi Anya to drill past Johnstone.

The sucker-punch came in the 92nd minute when Jonathan Bond could only push Mark Duffy’s shot into the path of Sharp, who made no mistake from close range.

Speaking afterwards to Sporting Life, Sannino said that he felt his side should have been able to see the game out.

‘I was proud of them, but we are still heading back to Watford with no points. We played 10 against 11 for 70 minutes and it was harsh on us not to take anything from the game,’ said the Italian.

‘I would like to think there was enough experience out there to manage the situation in the last 30 seconds of the game. We have to forget about this game very quickly and concentrate on the next one.’

Sannino showed self-restraint once again in refusing to criticise the officials for their failure to spot Johnstone’s waist-height challenge on Deeney.

‘I don’t like to talk about referees and we have to respect their decision. I am disappointed about the red card as you always have to accept the physical contact on the pitch – I did not like his reaction,’ explained Sannino.

You can read the match report from Tuesday by clicking here.