Awford fuming at referee Horwood

Andy Awford believes referee Graham Horwood "contributed to Portsmouth losing that game" as they fell 2-1 to Northampton in the JPT.

The Cobblers took charge courtesy of David Moyo's 28th minute opener but Ryan Taylor levelled eight minutes later. Kaid Mohamed netted the winner for the visitors in the 55th minute and Portsmouth failed to force penalties despite piling on the pressure in the closing stages. Awford felt Portsmouth should have ended the game with a man advantage after Cobblers' Lawson D'Ath fiercely scythed down Ricky Holmes with nine minutes left. D'Ath was only booked by Horwood and Awford admits the decision played a part in Pompey's downfall. He said: "It was a straight red - no doubt about it. I don't think Lawson is a horrible player. I don't think he would mean to hurt anybody. I'm not saying that for one minute. But his tackle was late, it was high and it was a red card - it's as simple as that. "I went into see the officials and they've admitted they got it wrong; fair play to them for admitting that. We all make mistakes. I don't want to criticise referees. Their job is hard enough. "But you've got to get the big decisions right and I don't think Northampton would have hung on with 10. "They were struggling to hang on with 11 when we were banging on the door at the end and couldn't quite get the equaliser. The referee contributed to us losing that game unfortunately." Awford was also unhappy to see Holmes booked for diving in the 89th minute when a big penalty appeal was controversially waved away. He said: "I think it was a stonewall penalty. There was contact. The referee is telling me he thinks Ricky bought it. Well, that's what players are coached to do. "Two of the officials out of the five are saying they thought it was a penalty and three didn't. The linesman, who was closest to it, didn't think it was and they went with him." Northampton manager Chris Wilder was delighted to see his side withstand Portsmouth's late pressure as a strong second-half performance saw them progress. He said: "I believe, after that second-half performance, we deserved to win a tight game of football. They chucked a lot at us late on as you would expect, and it was an excellent effort. "People will say this isn't the most glamorous of competitions in the early rounds, but the DNA of this team is that we want to be competitive and we want to win. We did and I can't ask any more from the players. "I thought for 20/25 minutes we were excellent and really controlled the game. We kept possession well; we looked a real threat and were solid at the back as well."