Despite TV pictures clearly showing that Elphick's challenge was a clean one, referree Mark Heywood clearly thought otherwise in awarding the free kick.
On the controversial decision, Arter is quoted in the Bournemouth Evening Echo as saying: "It was clean tackle. There might have been a foul on the boy before Tommy’s challenge but he has clearly won the ball. With the momentum of the fans and the momentum of the player, it was a situation where everybody seemed to think it was a free kick but if it was at our ground with a stronger referee I don’t think it would have been given. I don’t want to be overly critical of match officials because we all know what a difficult job it is. But if I have a bad game or give away a goal, I would get punished by my manager. He (Heywood) has made a mistake and given them a goal. The decision has killed us and cost us a point. Throughout the game, I felt he was swayed by the home fans. If an official makes an honest mistake, that’s fine, you just want a strong official and I don’t think he was at all strong. I thought we had done enough to get a draw so it was really disappointing to come away with nothing".