Ref justice for Oldham

Lee Johnson bemoaned "poor officiating" after Oldham were on the wrong end of some contentious decisions in a 2-2 draw with Doncaster.

Latics looked like ending a tumultuous week following the Ched Evans saga on a high after Jabo Ibehre and George Elokobi had given them a two-goal lead. However, with drama never far away from SportsDirect.com Park over the past six days, controversy continued to rule on the pitch as referee Carl Boyeson dismissed Joseph Mills 75 minutes in for a robust challenge on Reece Wabara which he had initially allowed to go unpunished. Nathan Tyson then pulled one goal back moments later, despite appearing to foul goalkeeper Paul Rachubka in the build-up, before James Coppinger rescued a point for Rovers in the fifth minute of stoppage time. "It's not a great challenge but the manner in which the officials dealt with it was very, very poor," Johnson said of Mills' dismissal. "I think if they watch the video back they'll be disappointed with their performance for both teams all throughout the match. The game changed on some poor officiating. "He (Mills) has left the ground. When you leave the ground you're always asking for trouble, however the management of the situation then after was just poor from start to finish. "There were so many decisions - and obviously we felt it was a foul on Rachubka - there were so many incidents that happened today. "Sometimes you get three or four but today it was probably 18 or 19 and that has such an effect on the game." Johnson's side had lost four games on the spin prior to this fixture and he was pleased with the early fight his players showed at the end of a testing week. Latics had prompted fury when they debated signing convicted rapist Evans, only to pull the plug on the deal on Thursday in the face of death threats to members of staff and over the possibility of losing major sponsorship deals. "It feels like two points dropped but it was a club day today," added Johnson. "Everything about us showed the fact we were united as a club." Former Oldham manager and current Doncaster chief Paul Dickov agreed with Johnson's assessment of Boyeson's performance, although he believed Mills was right to walk and also lamented a foul in the build-up to Elokobi's headed goal, which was awarded by the referee's assistant. "We came out second half and they've got a corner when it's a foul right in front of the linesman," said the Scot. "Then the linesman gave a goal when he's 50 yards away. It's basic stuff. "They went to 10 men, probably rightly so, and the boys showed a lot of character and I've got to give them a lot of credit for getting back in the game. "I don't want to see people getting sent off but he's left the floor with two feet. I know why Lee is frustrated because he's not given it (initially), "For both teams, that summed up the (referee's) performance for me today."