Sam Ricketts accused Bristol Rovers midfielder Liam Sercombe of cheating late on during the Gas' victory over Shrewsbury Town.

In a feisty, bad-tempered game, the Gas let a two-goal lead slip to be drawing 3-3 before Abu Ogogo's late winner secured the points.

Post-match, Shrewsbury boss Ricketts admitted to BBC Radio Shropshire that losing late on was a sucker-punch, particularly as they had been on top since the equalising goal.

He also claimed the Gas cheated to get a foothold back into the contest - although it is unclear as to exactly what he meant.

He said: "I thought we started a little bit sluggish and gave ourselves a mountain to climb but then we climbed it.

Bristol Rovers manager Graham Coughlan

"You just want to consolidate and certainly don't lose the game from that situation.

"We were still pressing, it wasn't like they were peppering our goal, it was just they started cheating a little bit, one player, the number seven for them.

"It just tipped their way in the end, a thrilling game for the neutral which unfortunately did not go our way."

One of the biggest talking points in the game was referee Graham Salisbury's decision not to award the hosts a penalty midway through the first half when Louis Thompson went down under a clumsy tackle from Alfie Kilgour in the box.

It sparked a mass confrontation between the two sets of players, and Ricketts had a number of heated discussions with Salisbury over the decision, with the Shrewsbury boss convinced his side should have been awarded a spot kick.

Liam Sercombe of Bristol Rovers celebrates scoring against Shrewsbury

"It was a penalty," he said.

"Louis slowed down, the defender ran into the back of him.

"He slowed down because he wants to have a shot, he had to slow down to take the shot, then the defender ran into the back of him.

"It's a penalty, I've unfortunately been the recipient of that many times myself, giving those penalties away.

"Why would he go down in that situation in the box? To say there's contact but not enough contact, either there is or isn't contact, you can't have it one way or the other.

"When you're running at that pace and you try to plant your foot for a shot, it doesn't always take a lot to knock you off your balance."

He added: "Referees have a hard game and don't mean to make mistakes, so I don't need to add on that but I just asked him what his viewpoint was, why he didn't think it was a penalty.

"He said he didn't think there was enough contact, which means there was, which means it was a penalty."
