Bradley rues 'soft' decision to rule out his late winner against Rotherham

Town centre half thought goal should have stood
Sonny Bradley saw his late header disallowed against Rotherham last nightSonny Bradley saw his late header disallowed against Rotherham last night
Sonny Bradley saw his late header disallowed against Rotherham last night

Luton captain Sonny Bradley labelled the decision to disallow his stoppage time winner against Rotherham United last night as ‘soft’.

In the final seconds, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner was swung into the area where Elijah Adebayo simply stood his ground by Millers keeper Jamal Blackman, with Bradley heading the cross into the net for what would surely have settled the contest.

However, referee David Webb blew the whistle for an apparent infringement by the Luton striker, a decision that boss Nathan Jones thought ‘categorically wasn't a foul', with Bradley echoing the feelings of his manager.

He said: “We could have won tonight, we had a chance at the end, I’ve scored and I’ve seen it back, and I honestly don’t think it’s a foul.

“I think the referee said afterwards it was Elijah on the goalkeeper and to me it looks pretty soft.”

With Rotherham fighting for their lives, it made for a game that was high on endeavour and goalmouth incident with the woodwork struck three times, but low on genuine quality from either side.

Bradley continued: “It was a bit scrappy and difficult and I was a little bit disappointed we didn’t take control of the game a bit earlier.

“I think there was possibly an opportunity to do that, but saying that, we have created chances.

"Elijah hit the underside of the bar, that could have easily gone in and in these games when you’ve got a team who’ve got two big men up top, they’re always going to cause a little bit of problem.

“They’ve had a half chance towards the end of the first half, (Matt) Crooks had a looping shot, could have scored, but I don’t think they created too much.

"Overall, it’s not a reflection of how we’ve been this season, because we’ve been tremendous this season.”

Although Town couldn’t emerge victorious on the evening, they importantly made sure to pick up a point which ensures a top half placing, as they now can't finish any lower than 12th.

The Hatter skipper thought that was another sign of their clear and obvious improvement this term, adding: "It was a frustrating game to play in, but sometimes you’ve just got to dig in and I’ve played in a lot of games for this football club where we’ve had to dig in.

"I think over the last few years we've built up a reputation of being a really good football team, but the fans who have watched us every game, will know we’ve gained a lot of success over the last few years by doing the basics well, defending well, and doing the ugly side of it.

"Defensively, especially this season and I’m not just saying that as a defender, but as a team we’ve defended a lot better this season.

"Clean sheets and goals against, they speak for themselves, so it’s a big step up, but we want to go again and step up again.”