February 19 2006

Iain Dowie

IAIN DOWIE accused referee Lee Mason of being intimidated by the hostile atmosphere at The Den.

DOWIE claimed Palace were denied at least one clear penalty during his side's draw with struggling Millwall.

Ben Watson had given Palace the lead before Ben May grabbed a last minute equaliser for the Lions.

Clinton Morrison has two penalty shouts turned down and Jobi McAnuff was also denied a spot-kick when he appeared to be fouled.

DOWIE said: "In this game, you are called to account but other people are not.

"You do not get a lot at the New Den. We have had two points robbed from us.

"We were punished by one ball into the box, it's one of those days.

"We felt there was at least one stonewall penalty in our favour, but you cannot change these decisions, so you have to move on."

Despite the disappointment of missing out on three points against local rivals, DOWIE is happy with the way Palace are playing.

He said: "The players deserve a great deal of credit. There is huge expectation on us and we are coping well.

"At the start of the season, we expected to be a little bit better off than we are now.

"But we are ahead of the other two relegated teams."