Tranmere boss Micky Mellon labels referee performance “terrible”

“The referee was terrible”

That was the reaction of Micky Mellon in a scathing review of referee Tom Nield following Tranmere’s 2-0 loss against Northampton.

Referee Nield, a nurse with the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, has only shown a red card as a result of two yellows in League Two twice since the start of the 2019/20 season.

But he was at centre of several controversial decisions at Prenton Park.

In his pre-match programme notes, Mellon said he didn’t “want games to be decided by referees”.

Ultimately, he thinks the referee had a distinct impact.

He went on to firmly air his grievances at full-time.

“It was one of the poorer performances I’ve seen a long, long time [from a referee],” Mellon said.

“There was a blatant sending off.

“I don’t ever want anyone sent off but the rules are there and that’s got to be one.”

The incident in the second half involved Northampton defender Ali Kioki who wiped out Tranmere winger Callum McManaman down the right.

The referee played advantage, but with Tranmere outside of the box when the incident happened, it raised questions.

IFAB Law 12 says: “Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score a goal.”

Therefore, Nield judged the tackle to not be a second cautionable offence, just at a glance.

Paul Lewis won Northampton a penalty in the second half.

The midfielder went down after a slight contact with goalkeeper Ross Doohan in another contentious decision.

Lewis was also involved before the break.

He took out Elliot Nevitt in the air as the Tranmere forward challenged for a header.

It probably would have been a red card in rugby but it was just a booking from the referee.

Tranmere fans were quick to criticise the referee too.

This is not blaming anyone but ourselves but the referee yesterday was an embarrassment. For both sides.
Got 2 corners completely wrong in the space of a minute. Let Lewis dive for the penalty then didn’t give a 2nd yellow to their defender after giving us an advantage on a foul

— SWA (@TranmereMoaners) October 24, 2021

Not all fans agreed that the penalty was a dive, though.

Their penalty was stonewall. No keeper dives in knee first for the ball and gets away with it. Dive in with your arms

— Will Gilbert 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@TRFCWill) October 24, 2021

Tranmere face Mansfield away from home this weekend as they look to bounce back from their first loss in nine games.