Holden keeps his cool at ref ‘gaffe'

DEAN Holden refused to blame his Bristol City side’s defeat on referee Geoff Eltringham, who admitted he may have got the decision wrong for Preston’s decisive penalty.

- Pete Loosley

In a hard-fought contest the decisive moment came in the 21st minute when Eltringham pointed to the spot after Scott Sinclair appeared to have been tripped by Taylor Moore in the City box.

Daniel Johnson coolly converted the spot-kick and, despite the best efforts of substitute Antoine Semenyo who forced Declan Rudd into several excellent stops, the visitors could not find a response.

Holden refused to make any excuses for a third defeat on the spin. “It looked a soft one,” he said. “I spoke to the referee about it and he just said ‘if I got it wrong, I apologise’.