For Frank Lampard, the possibility, however remote, of a fifth FA Cup to add to the fourth he won as a player. For John Coleman, the probability, if not inevitability, of an FA charge. Lampard has experienced glory in this competition and, while Derby flirted with ignominy, they advanced. Accrington exploded after their elimination.Β
βI wouldnβt say we came through with flying colours but we came through,β said a relieved Lampard. He was altogether calmer than his Stanley counterpart, who was not assuaged by the Β£400,000 profits and who launched an attack on the referee Jonathan Moss that is likely to bring disciplinary sanctions. βI feel physically sick,β Coleman said. βI wanted to vomit when I saw them celebrating in front of their fans. They didnβt deserve it. Even the most biased Derby fan knows they shouldnβt be in the next round.β
Instead, Martyn Waghorn took the Championship side into the last 16, his scruffy winner feeling symbolic of their performance. Derbyβs struggle to see off Accringtonβs 10 men was summed up by Jayden Bogleβs last-minute red card for a desperate lunge at Accrington substitute Paul Smyth. Stanley, dubbed βthe club wouldnβt dieβ on their march back from non-league, proved the team who would not give up.
They had excelled, even after Daniel Barlaserβs dismissal. βWhen we went down to 10 men for 25 minutes, you wouldnβt have known,βΒ Coleman said. βWe made the better chances. But we have been on the end of couple of horrendous decisions.β
Barlaser, the midfielder borrowed from Newcastle, had only collected three cautions in his senior career. He got two yellow cards within an hour, a third-minute lunge at Harry Wilson being followed by a foul on David Nugent. βEveryone I have spoken to thinks it was never a yellow card,β insisted Coleman. βFair play to Derby, they didnβt try and get him sent off. It wasnβt down to any gamesmanship.β
Then Waghornβs goal, stabbed home from close range after Duane Holmesβ shot was blocked, stemmed indirectly from the award of a free-kick against Janoi Donacien, which in turn led to a corner. βThe fourth official is shouting down the mic βgood tackle,ββ added Coleman, while Lampard agreed it was a fair challenge. Moss ruled otherwise.
Coleman attempted to confront a referee he has known since their days in non-league footballΒ in the officialsβ room afterwards. βHe has scarpered into the lounge. The dressing room is probably not good enough for him even though itβs good enough for the other referees who come here week-in week-out. I go to see him in the lounge and he throws me out. His arrogance defies belief. I wasnβt swearing. I might have raised my voice. I know he was a schoolteacher. I was a schoolteacher but I donβt speak to my players condescendingly like that.
βItβs the way you get dismissed as though you are not worth to be in the same place as a Premier League referee.Β You would expect better off a Premiership official. They are supposed to be the cream, but if that is the cream, I would like to see a pint of sour milk.Β The more you criticise him, the more you get into trouble. I have got no recourse. I will have to take it on my chin, or chins. He doesnβt care he has ruined by weekend or 2,000 fansβ weekend. They are not infallible but sometimes they think they are.β
Accrington remain aggrieved that their goalkeeper Jonny Maxted was sent off against Charlton last week, a decision that was rescinded to allow him to make fine saves from Waghorn and Mason Bennett, and Coleman added: βYou feel persecuted. This wasnβt the first time it has happened. I am rapidly falling out of love with football, something that has been my passion I was five.β
A rather more measured Lampard felt both dismissals were correct. βI thought they were two bookings,β he said. βI thought Bogle was a red.β While Coleman concentrated on Mossβ attitude, he was pleased by his chargesβ approach in the cramped confines of the Wham Stadium. Lampard insisted: βI wasnβt going to cosy it up and get changed at a hotel or lay down a carpet, which I heard has been done here before.β
His team nevertheless encountered difficulties when Jordan Clark and Callum Johnson came close in the first half while Billy Kee had a hat-trick of opportunities after Barlaserβs sending-off, drawing a fine injury-time save from Kelle Roos. Yet the late drama on the pitch was only the prelude to Colemanβs outburst off it.
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