Plymouth Argyle boss fumes at referee in verdict on Sunderland defeat but praises 'great' opening goal

Lowe was booked at half-time for approaching referee James Bell the Argyle boss arguing that Ross Stewart had been offisde when Lynden Gooch sprung him clear on goal.

Replays suggested the linesman had made the right call on that occasion, but there was controversy when Gooch was hauled down by Ryan Law.

A free-kick was initially awarded, before the referee pointed to the spot.

Law was on a yellow card at the time and was fortunate not to be sent off.

Jerome Opoku had been sent off fifteen minutes earlier for a second yellow, a decision with which Lowe had no complaints.

"He should stay on his feet, and we know that, so it’s a rash moment of him making that decision," Lowe said.

“Then it’s backs against the wall. We were still in the game with two banks of four.

“We have got one striker, Klaidi [Lolos] working his socks off, we are compact. We knew we had to see it out then, with a young lad at the back in Ollie [Tomlinson].

“I thought we could have seen it out to be honest. In fact, I thought we may have broken on them because they were putting bodies forward a lot.

“Then when the ref gives the penalty, it’s outside the box. He can see it, he actually gave a free-kick first and then the linesman made the decision to give a pen.