adminFrustrated Frank Lampard provides verdict on big referee call and Coventry City’s performance at Ipswich
CoventryLive provides the match reaction as Frank Lampard reflects on Coventry City’s 3-0 defeat to Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
Frank Lampard believes Ipswich striker George Hirst should not have been on the field to score his side’s second goal, as Coventry slipped to only their second Championship loss of the season.
Despite the final scoreline, Lampard was largely satisfied with Coventry’s overall display—especially in the first half, when the Sky Blues created three golden opportunities to take control of the match.
However, his frustration centred on what he viewed as a major officiating error from referee Paul Tierney.
Tierney booked Josh Eccles in the first half for taking a shot after the whistle had gone for a foul just outside the box.
Later in the match, Hirst did the same thing at the opposite end of the pitch but was not shown a second yellow card, despite already being booked earlier for a foul on Bobby Thomas.
Coventry went into the break 1-0 down following Sindre Walle Egeli’s strike from the edge of the area.
Hirst then doubled Ipswich’s lead on the hour mark after breaking through to finish past Carl Rushworth, before Ivan Azon added a late third in stoppage time.
When asked whether Hirst should still have been playing when he scored, Lampard replied:
“No, he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t! I’m not a fan of yellow cards for kicking the ball away or taking a shot after the whistle, but if Josh Eccles gets booked for it, then Hirst should too. It’s nothing personal—those are the rules.
The whistle went, he stopped a bit, looked, shot, and it went wide. Just like Josh. Unfortunately for us, that decision went against us today.”
Reflecting on the missed first-half chances—Eccles and Ephron Mason-Clark were both denied by goalkeeper Christian Walton, while Kaine Kesler-Hayden headed wide—Lampard said:
“In big games like this against strong opposition, moments like those are decisive. But overall, in the first half we were the better side. You could feel the stadium sense it as well.
We won second balls, we played with confidence, and our press was excellent. Ipswich struggled to play through us, and you could sense the tension in the crowd.”
He added that the scrappy opening goal shifted the momentum heading into halftime, but maintained that his team showed the right attitude.
“The players had to recognise how well they approached that first half. In the second half, it was similar—they scored from a transition, Hirst runs through and scores, and it becomes difficult.
But overall, there’s no unhappiness from me about how the players applied themselves. We showed today that we’re a competitive side. It just wasn’t our day, for a number of reasons.”
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