NEWCASTLE boss Rafa Benitez said he had been unhappy with refereeing decisions during the defeat by Cherries but declined to expand on his comments.

The hosts saw a Dwight Gayle effort ruled out for offside in the first half with television replays suggesting the officials had got it wrong.

Gayle appeared to be in line with the Cherries defence as Matt Ritchie let fly to hit the post before the striker followed up to net the loose ball.

And just seconds after Steve Cook had scored the winner, the defender appeared to haul back Gayle as he prepared to go clear on goal with referee Paul Tierney allowing play to continue.

Despondent manager Benitez was clearly unhappy with Tierney's performance but kept his own counsel when asked at his post-match press conference.

He said: "I will not talk about the decisions because I am not very happy with the decisions."

Benitez admitted his side had been made to pay for not taking their chances and for a series of mistakes which contributed to their own downfall.

He said: "In football, you have to play well, create chances and take them and don't make mistakes. We didn't do that.

"We didn't do what we had to do on a lot of occasions and, in the end, we paid for our mistakes."