Sam Allardyce blasts late penalty call - and diving Watford mascot - on Crystal Palace bow

Sam Allardyce hit out at the referee and then the Watford mascot after being denied victory in his first game as Crystal Palace manager.

Troy Deeney's 100th strike for Watford earned a share of the points after Yohan Cabaye's opener, but Christian Benteke missed from the spot before Wilfried Zaha was booked for diving inside the area.

Mark Clattenburg's decision on Zaha caused frustration for Allardyce, who claimed his Palace side deserved better from the game having turned in an improved performance.

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And the new Eagles manager was further irked when the hosts' Harry the Hornet mascot performed a comedy dive in front of Zaha when the winger went to applaud his fans after the final whistle.

"The mascot is out of order, isn't he?" Allardyce said of the mascot's cheeky act. "If someone is diving, they don't get that angry."

Allardyce, who replaced Alan Pardew in the hotseat just before Christmas, speaking earlier about the flashpoint to Sky Sports: "I looked at all the incidents and there is no doubt in my mind.

"It's a penalty for me, but maybe [Clattenburg] didn't want to give three [penalties] today. I'm a little disappointed in the decision process from one of the best referees in the world today."

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However, despite the obvious disappointment, Allardyce was encouraged by his side's display.

Palace started brightly and took the lead in the 26th minute thanks to Yohan Cabaye's strike and they could have gone further ahead had Benteke's weak penalty not been saved by Heurelho Gomes in the 36th minute.

"In terms of results we played very, very well today and it's our own fault we didn't get the three points," Allardyce said. "We got a little deflated at missing the penalty, but we were the dominant side until then.

"It was two points dropped for me but in some ways that's encouraging considering it was my first game and it was away from home.

"If we can stay on that level hopefully we'll turn results into victories," he added.

"I was looking for the important clean sheet and today we gave that up by giving them a soft penalty."