CHERRIES defender Simon Francis felt referee Michael Bull’s decision to award Ipswich a free-kick in the lead up to their second goal had been “a little harsh”.

Francis was penalised for a foul on Tyrone Mings near the East Stand touchline before Daryl Murphy headed home Paul Anderson’s delivery from the resultant free-kick.

Asked whether he felt the official had made the correct call, Francis replied: “I’m not sure. He had hold of me, he didn’t want to let go so I tried to shrug him off and he went down fairly easy. The referee gave it and, unfortunately, they scored from it so I was disappointed personally.

“I thought it was a bit 50-50. If we’d had the ball up the other end, he might have given it in my favour. I thought the referee was probably a little harsh. He made a few questionable decisions, especially in the second half.

“We knew they would be dangerous from set-plays. Maybe we should have been marking tighter instead of dropping when the ball came into the box but we work on it a lot. We were unfortunate to concede, it was one we will have to look at.”

Francis added: “As the manager said afterwards, we have to take positives from the game. We created a number of chances and played with real intensity for the majority of the game. To come away disappointed having not won against a team like Ipswich shows how far we have come.

“I thought we had the better of the game. We could have been two or three up at half-time, we had some great opportunities. Yann linked the play excellently and Callum was his usual hard- working self.

“We were disappointed not to win but it would have been an entertaining game for the crowd. Hopefully, it proves to be an important point.”