Gillingham assistant manager Richard Dobson reacts to their FA Cup defeat against Newport County and a controversial refereeing call

Gillingham were left frustrated by a refereeing decision that proved costly in their penalty shootout loss at Newport.

The first-round FA Cup tie at Newport went to penalties, after a 2-2 draw and that was poised at 1-1 when Gills keeper Jake Turner made a brilliant save to deny Cameron Antwi, only to be penalised for being off his line. Antwi scored with the retaken kick and the home team went on to win the shootout 4-3.

Report: Penalty defeat for the Gills at Newport

Assistant boss Richard Dobson said: “It's really harsh to take when it's a penalty shootout defeat, especially the manner in which it went.

“It's an incredibly cruel way to lose the game. I thought in the second half we got a grip of the game, had a lot of territorial possession.

“I think the head injuries to their players killed a little bit of momentum that we'd built up at that stage. When it goes into extra time and there's a lot of tired legs, there's a lot of space, it becomes a game of basketball.

“The game goes end-to-end. We have chances, they have chances, and they found the net, a little bit of sloppy play with us. We didn't track a runner at a second phase from a set-piece.

“They found the back of the net, and then we're chasing the game again. Fair play to the lads, they dug in, they got the goal, and then you're at the lottery of penalties and in this situation it’s another official's decision that's gone against us.”

The Gills led Saturday’s game through Elliott Nevitt’s goal on 14 minutes but Newport equalised before the break. Without another goal in normal time, the match went to extra-time.

With 109 minutes played, Antwi put Newport 2-1 up, only for Seb Palmer-Houlden to level it up with just two minutes of extra-time remaining,