‘It looked like a moment of weakness’ - Chris Millington unhappy with match officials’ role for late Yeovil equaliser in 1-1 draw with FC Halifax Town

The Shaymen were on course for a fifth consecutive clean sheet until Linton popped up in the 89th minute to steer Andrew Oluwabori’s cross-cum-shot in at the far post, although the assistant referee, initially, appeared to raise his flag for offside, causing confusion among the home players and fans.

After a brief deliberation, however, referee Jamie O’Connor gave the goal, as the Shaymen - who went in front thanks to former Yeovil loanee Matty Warburton - failed to extend the gap between the teams at the bottom end of the table.

After the game, Millington said: “Without having reviewed it or seeing it back it looked to me like Sam Johnson was ahead of the ball when the final touch took place and we only had one player behind the ball, which clearly means the player’s offside.

“That was my take on it in real time. I don’t know if anyone has seen it any differently but that was how I saw it.

“The other thing that is slightly concerning is that the referee’s assistant on that side has flagged for offside and changed his decision once the ref’s pointed to the centre spot. It looked like a moment of weakness.

“It should have been an opportunity for them to deliberate and come to a decision. But they all committed to the goal and then deliberated; by that time they were never going to go back on it.

“It looks like all the hard work and effort that the lads have put in has maybe been undone by something outside of their control.

“But, what we always have to do is be honest and reflect and go, ‘well how has the ball ended up in that position anyway?’ We haven’t got out to stop a cross, we haven’t dealt with the cross into the box well enough and, as a result of that, it has ended up in the back of the net and allowed the officials to make a poor decision.

“If we’d have dealt with it better earlier then there is no decision for the officials to make. It adds to the disappointment if it comes via a mistake from the officials.”

Asked if, due to the nature - and timing - of the equalising goal, if the 1-1 draw felt like a defeat, Millington responded:

“It does, for a number of reasons. We have created some good chances and should have taken them, so we could and should have been at least a couple up by that point.

“And then I argue that Yeovil don’t even get themselves into that position if we’re sitting pretty at 2-0 up in the 89th minute - the game just dies a death and we see it out. So that’s a blow that we haven’t taken the initiative and finished them off.

“The late goal and the manner in which it was conceded does make it feel even more disappointing but one of the players in the debrief has highlighted how close we are to being a good and really effective team. That’s the sense we’ve got.

“We’ve conceded one goal in five games. We are going to concede the odd goal here and there. The clear message is we have got to be putting more of our chances away, so that on the odd occasion when we do concede it is not costing us points.

“It’s better now because it’s not long ago we’d have been coming out on the end of a 1-0 defeat - Yeovil away is an example of that where we were the better team and we lost the game. There is progress but we have got to take more of our chances.”

Town created a number of chances, albeit without forcing goalkeeper Grant Smith into any meaningful saves, in the first half thanks to pressing a Yeovil team who like to play out from the back. On Halifax’s approach, Millington said:

“We knew that Yeovil would want to play out and anyone who knows Mark Cooper knows his brand of football and what he will focus his teams on.

“We knew they would want to build from the back and try and play through the thirds and we knew how we wanted to play against that.

“I think that did work and we created a number of chances from that in the first half. We felt that the plan was working and we were slightly disappointed that we came in at half time 0-0.”

It didn’t take Town too long to edge in front after the restart - 15 minutes to be exact - when Warburton, played in cutely by Milli Alli, produced a composed finish past Smith.

“It feels like he is back now,” revealed Millington. “We knew we wouldn’t get more than 60 minutes out of him today because we don’t want to put him at any risk of injury again.

“The fact that he is getting chances - and that he has taken one of those today - makes it feel like he is back and that he is ready to impact the run-in.”

Alli was denied just before the Yeovil equaliser by an outstretched leg of Smith, before former Town defender Josh Staunton produced a brave block in injury time to thwart him, which would have given Halifax all three points.

Millington said: “It was a fantastic block. We know that Josh Staunton is a great player. He was a fantastic player here for us.

“Milli is getting these chances over and over again now and we have got to be putting them away. It is vital that these chances start ending up in the back of the net. If we can only put one goal past teams then it is going to be very difficult to win as many games as maybe we deserve to.”

Commenting on the mood in the dressing room after the game, Millington admitted:

“Immediately after the game it is disappointment. The manner in which we’ve conceded and dropping two points at such a late stage of the game is very disappointing.

“But, all in all, the lads recognise what great leaps and bounds they have made in the last few weeks. It was not long ago that we were playing Maidenhead at home and it was a poor performance and a brutal experience for a lot of them.

“To be five unbeaten since then, four of those clean sheets, and only conceding one goal, shows the strides we have made.

“To make that leap from a good, honest, hard working team to being a good and really effective team, we have got to maintain all the good work that’s been done so far and improve our conversion rate in front of goal.”

The Shaymen have a full week off now before their next outing - an away trip to fourth place Chesterfield, who beat fellow high-fliers Woking this lunchtime.

“The lads need a breather,” admitted the manager. “You could see after 60 minutes, one or two of them looked leggy and tired. The Shay is a tough pitch to play on at the best of times because it is so big but when it is heavy like it is at the moment, it makes it even harder.

“There are some lads who have had an awful lot of minutes in the last few months and have really given everything. You could see the energy just going a little bit out of them; dynamic movements weren’t quite as dynamic.

“It’s good that we have now got a longer run into the next game. The lads have got an opportunity to rest and we can start to prepare really thoroughly, as of Tuesday, for what will be a tough away game at Chesterfield.”