We were on the wrong side of the decisions – Cheltenham boss Michael Duff

Posted Monday, December 30, 2019 by PA

Cheltenham manager Michael Duff criticised two decisions that went against his side after their 1-1 draw with Northampton on Sunday.

The Robins were awarded a third-minute penalty when Jordan Turnbull tripped George Lloyd as the striker raced through on goal.

Conor Thomas converted but Duff was unhappy that Turnbull did not see red, particularly after the same man equalised shortly before half-time.

Cheltenham also had substitute Alex Addai sent off in stoppage-time, although that came too late to impact the result.

“We were on the wrong side of the decisions,” said Duff.

“The way Northampton want to play, they want to buy free-kicks and load the ball into the box and I thought the referee got conned a lot of the time today.

“I think it’s a stonewall red card for the penalty and I’m not quite sure how they can justify the fact that it wasn’t a red card.

“Even at the end, their lad is rubbing Alex’s head from the byline to the halfway line and OK, he does react – but just blow the whistle!

“We’re a minute and a half over the allotted time so he could have just defused the situation but away from that I thought we showed a lot of resilience and a lot of determination.

“That’s why we’ve only conceded five goals in six months away from home.

“Northampton have won six on the spin at home so it’s a tough place to come and there were a lot of positives within a really tough and difficult afternoon.

“We knew what they would do and I think we kept them at arm’s length in the first half and we were a threat on the counter-attack but the final pass wasn’t quite there.”

Keith Curle was pleased with his side’s reaction from their heavy defeat at Crawley on Boxing Day.

He said: “I think the fans saw a spirited performance and on another day, the three chances Andy Williams has, one of those hit the target and we come away with three points.

“But we showed good character and good belief after going a goal down very early in the game and I don’t think they troubled us.

“Apart from the penalty, David Cornell didn’t make a save. One shot went over for them but there wasn’t anything else.

“I always believe in my team but the goal we conceded was disappointing because the ball went into their goalkeeper’s hands, no one stops him from throwing him and then he throws it.

“We get people back but being back isn’t enough because you’ve got to get back and you’ve got to mark people. It’s just one straight ball through our defence and that’s not right.”