MARK Cooper thought his side were hampered by an atrocious penalty decision from referee Kevin Johnson that brought about his Swindon Town side’s first defeat in five games.

Johnson pointed to the spot having adjudged Jordan Turnbull to have fouled Dean Furman in the 23rd minute.

Replays suggest it was a poor decision as the Town defender pokes the ball off the toe of the South African cleanly.

Theo Robinson’s conversion was the only goal in a dire game where Michael Smith saw his own spot-kick saved late in the second half.

The awarding of the penalty was one of a few decision that attracted the ire of the Town boss who made his feeling on Johnson’s performance perfectly clear after the game.

“The referee has made an atrocious decision to give (Doncaster) a penalty,” said Cooper “The clue is usually which direction the ball goes in when the defender makes the tackle and it goes towards the corner flag. I’ve seen it again and it’s a fantastic tackle from Jordan Turnbull. The referee, for some reason, gives an amazing decision and we give Doncaster something to hang on to.

“(For the Swindon penalty) I saw a pull-back, it was a definite pull-back but how many of them do you see in a game?”

The Town boss revealed that it was not just himself struggling to find a reason for some of Johnson’s decision but also Doncaster manager Paul Dickov and his backroom staff as well.

“I thought the referee’s performance in the first half was staggering in some of the decisions,” Cooper added.

“We did well not to get anyone sent from the technical area on both sides today, I thought that was the biggest bonus from the game.

“The fourth official had his work cut out, even he was struggling to explain some of those decisions.”