Gareth Ainsworth furious after Wycombe denied late penalty in Portsmouth defeat

The Chairboys pushed Kenny Jackett’s promotion-chasers all the way but succumbed to a 3-2 defeat at Adams Park.

That made it 11 matches without a win for Wycombe, who were left just a point above the relegation zone in 19th.

Jamal Lowe’s opener and Brett Pitman’s second half double saw the Blues come away with all three points.

But Marcus Bean’s debated effort on 54 minutes and substitute Scott Kashket’s stunner eight minutes from the end had twice seen the hosts reduce two-goal deficits.

And with Pompey up against it in the closing stages, Ainsworth was left angered as his side were denied a late spot-kick.

Substitute Adebayo Akinfenwa went down under a challenge in the area with seconds remaining.

However, referee Busby waved away penalty appeals and blew the full-time whistle.

And that angered former QPR midfielder Ainsworth.

He told the club website: ‘I don’t know how we didn’t get a penalty at the end.

‘I’m not one to go on about referees and I’ve been very lenient this season.

‘But for me it was a stonewall penalty.

‘I cannot believe we didn’t get a penalty with that one.

‘I know Bayo (Adebayo Akinfenwa) is a big man and he doesn’t get his fair share of fouls, but please give us something.

‘The referee blew up very quickly after that and I think that was to stop some protests.

‘For me, it was a penalty all day.

‘That would have meant so much to us.

‘We fought well, we fought fantastically well.

‘To show the fight that we did was fantastic.

‘There’s no point showing when games have gone and there are not enough points left to play for, which teams have done the past.

‘We’ve shown what fight we are going to give.

‘If we have that fight for the rest of the season, we’ll be fine.’