INTERIM Cherries head coach Gary O’Neil thought the spot-kick awarded against his side at Nottingham Forest was “harsh” and said: “If that is a pen, I feel like we’re in a ridiculous place.” The Dorset club were penalised after Neco Williams’s fierce strike cannoned off the hand of Lloyd Kelly at the City Ground just before the interval. Cherries however roared back with goals from Philip Billing, Dom Solanke and Jaidon Anthony to take all three points. Asked about the penalty decision,
Gary O’Neil said: “I was surprised. I obviously saw it back and I thought it was harsh.It’s just hard to know. I said to the fourth official at the time, I don’t even know the rule now. Is that a pen? Is it not a pen? I mean, if that is a pen, I feel like we’re in a ridiculous place. I think it’s Nico Williams that had the shot and he smashed it at probably 60, 70 miles-per-hour at Lloyd Kelly from a yard away. It’s hard to know what a natural position is for your arm, but I think Lloydy’s was probably in it. I think Lloydy’s arm looks worse after the ball has hit it, probably, because it flings up in the air off the ball. So, yeah, I was surprised and I thought that could be a killer blow for us – 1-0 going in at half-time, I was really positive around what I felt and what I was going to say to the boys. But I thought that 2-0 was a real tough blow for us at that moment, so fair play to them for the response.”
Gary O’Neil refused to take credit for a change of system which helped spark Cherries’ sublime comeback at Nottingham Forest. Having started with a back four, O’Neil saw his team trailing 2-0 at half-time during the Premier League contest at the City Ground. The interim boss then brought on Ryan Fredericks for Jordan Zemura and utilised Adam Smith as a third centre-half. Asked by the Daily Echo whether he felt the change in shape was a catalyst for the comeback,
Gary O’Neil said: “I felt it gave us some control. It was in my mind before the game but because we had such a quick turnaround, it was a struggle to get any work into them. I felt we could still cause them problems with our back four. I felt we did and we lacked quality at the end of it.”
Philip Billing, Dom Solanke and Jaidon Anthony all fired in the second half to earn the Dorset club a memorable 3-2 victory.
Gary o Neil added: “At that point at half-time it was like – we are going to go with what we initially thought. I wouldn’t give the system too much credit. You can change the system all you want – if you’ve not got a group that believe and go and deliver it, it wouldn’t make any difference. Full credit goes to the group of players that have given me anything again. That’s two games on the trot now where they have literally emptied the tank for me.”
