Aaron Collins pays tribute to Bristol Rovers fans amid penalty frustration in Portsmouth defeat

Aaron Collins could not conceal his frustration after Bristol Rovers felt they were on the wrong side of key refereeing decisions in the 3-1 defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Rovers had their backs against the wall at Fratton Park, but Collins' equaliser just after the hour put the game back in the balance before it hinged on two big calls from referee Gavin Ward in the final 10 minutes.

First, Pompey were awarded a spot kick eight minutes from time when Joe Pigott went to ground after Harry Anderson attempted to make a clearance. The Rovers man did make contact with the ball before the striker and Pompey boss Danny Cowley admitted he did not think it was a foul.

Pigott coolly scored from 12 yards to restore Portsmouth's lead but Rovers were adamant they should have had a penalty of their own moments later when Collins went down after contact from Joe Rafferty. Rovers boss Joey Barton believed it was a more credible claim than Pigott's and Collins said it was a "blatant" foul. For clarity, Cowley did not think that was a penalty either.

"It’s frustrating," Rovers' top scorer said. "At the time I knew it was a penalty. I don’t understand how the referee hasn’t given it, especially when he gave their penalty two or three minutes before that.

"Theirs, you could say, is questionable and the ref has given the decision. OK, but we go up the other end and I think mine is more of a penalty than what there’s was and the ref waves it away. It’s frustrating because I think we should be leaving here with something.

"You get different referees. You get some referees who talk to you; some referees just laugh at you really and it’s frustrating.

"Sometimes you just want a conversation and you can see the boys’ reaction after that,