Shrewsbury boss Paul Hurst unsure over controversial Doncaster equaliser

Posted Sunday, January 21, 2018 by PA

Shrewsbury manager Paul Hurst questioned whether Doncaster’s controversial equaliser should have counted after watching his side let a two-goal slip.

Goals from Mat Sadler and Carlton Morris either side of half time put Shrewsbury in command before substitutes Mathieu Baudry and Issam Ben Khemis, amid controversy, pulled Rovers level.

A deep cross from Ben Khemis 14 minutes from time was adjudged to have crossed the line for Doncaster’s equaliser as home goalkeeper Dean Henderson caught the ball under pressure.

Hurst said: “It’s about goals and small margins, isn’t it? We seem to come out on the wrong side of perhaps a bit of bad luck, certainly a very controversial decision, that ultimately means we haven’t taken all three points today.”

Hurst added: “Hand on heart, there’s not one definitive piece of footage that I’ve looked at, or a photo, anything like that, that says it was definitely not over the line.”

“But I’ve had various people tell us – I’m being told there’s a photographer that’s got clear evidence that it wasn’t over the line.

“From the footage I’ve seen, it doesn’t look like it is until one of the Doncaster Rovers players makes contact with Dean and kind of gives him a little shove further back – and it’s not until that point that the linesman starts to flag.”

As a result, Shrewsbury slipped out of the top two in the Sky Bet League One table for the first time since early September.

Hurst, whose side took Premier League West Ham to extra time in a midweek FA Cup replay before losing 1-0, added: “It was a very good performance from the players. I thought we looked a good side against a team that’s been in-form, unbeaten, and remain so after today.

Doncaster are now unbeaten in their last seven league games and manager Darren Ferguson was impressed with the character of his players to earn some reward.

Ferguson said: “We dug in and, to be honest, I felt we could go on and win it.

“We really were the team that looked like we was going to go on and win it – but character, the determination of my players not to lose a game of football.”

He added: “Big credit to my players today. We didn’t give up after going two goals down and we’ve come away with a huge point.”

Ferguson now wants his side to keep moving in the right direction ahead of Tuesday’s local derby with Scunthorpe.

“We’re looking good,” he said. “We’re finding a way of not losing games, a good habit to have. We go again on Tuesday, a derby against Scunthorpe away. If we win that we can go 10th, so it’s a big game now on Tuesday.”