PETERBOROUGH manager Darren Ferguson accused Richard Chaplow of a “blatant dive” to win Saints their second penalty yesterday.

The midfielder went down in the area early in the second half, with the scores level at 2-2, while under pressure from Posh left back Tom Kennedy.

Referee Eddie Ilderton had no hesitation in pointing to the spot – something he made a habit of, with each side being awarded two penalties during the game.

The decision incensed Ferguson, who fell out with Chaplow during their time together at Preston.

And the Posh boss accused the Saints player of cheating to win his side the crucial penalty, before arguing the player should have received a second yellow card for it.

“Chaplow’s dived – blatant dive,” said a bitter Ferguson. “But the referee’s bottled it, he has to send him off, doesn’t he? Terrible decision.”

Despite both sides having one certain penalty and one dubious spot kick each, the Scot was adamant his side were the ones left hard done by.

“Two (of the penalties) were justified and two were nonsense," continued Ferguson. “Our two were justified, their two weren’t.

“I haven’t seen it, but I’ve been told. Mark Little’s touched the ball and Chaplow’s dived.

“Chamberlain stuck his arm up and the defender’s brought over Langers [Kelvin Langmead].”

Chaplow was not made available to the media after the match to respond to Ferguson's claims.