Gillingham coach Darren Hare felt Sunday’s draw at Walsall was a fair result but was left to wonder what if?

Just moments after Bradley Dack had put the Gills 1-0 up they had strong penalty appeals when Cody McDonald was felled in the box.

Referee Carl Berry waved off the protests and a few minutes later Walsall went down the other end and equalised. Hare was adamant the team should have had the penalty.

“I’ve never seen a more stonewall penalty than that,” he said. “Had we got that I think we would have gone on and won the game.

“Cody is in motion and for me, he clearly gets a touch of the ball when taken down. The referee says their lad played the ball. Even some of their players were conceding it was a penalty.

“Sometimes they get given, sometimes they don’t and unfortunately for us it didn’t go our way.”

Read what Bradley Dack had to say after scoring his sixth of the season.

Hare did admit, however, that the Gills rode their luck themselves, particularly during a difficult opening half.

“They were the better side first half and we seemed to take time to get going,” he said.

“We tinkered with the shape a little bit to try and stop their full-backs getting out, who were causing us some problems.

“Second half we picked ourselves up, had a go and got our noses infront.”

Despite Dack’s goal and the close-call with the penalty, Walsall levelled after the Gills failed to clear away a free-kick.

“We conceded a poor goal,” Hare admitted. “It looked a bit scrappy but we will have to have a look at it again on the DVD. In hindsight we would have taken a point before the game.

“It was sloppy and a poor goal to give away but on the whole we are happy with the point. It was a fair result.”

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