Barrow boss Pete Wild bemoans refereeing decision after Stockport draw

Posted Wednesday, December 27, 2023 by PA

Barrow boss Pete Wild bemoaned a controversial decision which he felt cost his side two points in their clash with leaders Stockport.

The Hatters had fought back from two goals down to level at 2-2 when George Ray thought he had scored a late winner for the Bluebirds, only for referee Martin Coy and his officials to spot a foul in the build-up.

Wild was fuming, and said: “Barring a ludicrous refereeing decision, we would have won the game.

“As George is kicking the ball in the net, the fourth (official) is shouting, ‘man down’. But two minutes later Elliot Newby is on the floor and he lets it run for another 45 seconds, so where is the consistency?

“Their manager had a pop at him (the referee) at half-time and he came out for the second half and was a different character.”

Barrow, playing in front a record crowd at Holker Street, stunned Stockport as Ben Whitfield and Kian Spence scored inside the opening 24 minutes.

But inspired by a plethora of substitutions, County stormed back through Nick Powell and one-time Barrow player Akil Wright either side of the break.

Wild added: “We were outstanding for the first 45 minutes. Stockport have all the resources in the world; just look at the four players they rolled on.

“But we went toe-to-toe with them. We both had spells, so a draw was probably a fair result.

“They were all over us for the first 20 minutes of the second half. But we finished the stronger and I thought we were the ones to go on and win the game.”

Stockport boss Dave Challinor made his first changes three minutes before the interval, and he said: “It wasn’t easy because you don’t like taking people off in a game before half-time.

“People might see that as a slight on them or embarrassment. It makes no difference to me as ultimately it’s about getting something out of the game.

“If there hadn’t been rules about how many opportunities you get to make changes, I would have made all four at the same time.

“The choice was wait until half-time and potentially waste 15 minutes, or do you make the decision then?

“One thing is for certain both Barrow’s goals were offside.

“If I had been offered a point after half-an-hour being 2-0 down I would have taken it.

“But as the game panned out, I’m disappointed we didn’t go on to win it.”