Paul Cook disappointed with penalty decision as Chesterfield draw with Swindon

Posted Saturday, August 10, 2024 by PA

Chesterfield manager Paul Cook felt his side deserved to win as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Swindon in their first match back in the EFL.

Armando Dobra gave the home side a 15th-minute lead before Will Wright levelled in the 64th minute.

Cook was happy with his side’s display and felt they should have had a penalty midway through the opening half when Michael Jacobs appeared to be fouled by Grant Hall inside the area.

“It was probably a game where the teams cancelled each other out a little bit,” Cook said.

“I thought we were good. They always carry a threat because of their physicality – fair play to them.

“The disappointing thing for me is the penalty (decision) in the first half. It’s just a penalty.

“When you watch a game, your first reaction is normally good. I just sat down because I thought it was a stonewall penalty. Unfortunately, we have to live with that.

“He has two assistants and a fourth official. I said to the referee, ‘I just don’t know how you haven’t given it’. Michael Jacobs clearly touches the ball and the defender takes him out.

“As I say, there is not a criticism but I just felt it would have changed the game. The reality is officials make mistakes and they have made one tonight.

“I just felt that if we’d got the second goal, that would have been enough to win the game.

“There will be no disappointment tonight as we are delighted to get back in the league. It should be an enjoyable evening.

“It was a great atmosphere and a great attendance. I felt we deserved to win and we move on to the next game.”

Swindon boss Mark Kennedy was delighted with his team’s performance.

He said: “I thought the group were excellent. In possession, I thought some of our patterns were very good, particularly in build-up.

“There were some really good things from training that came out today. We knew there weren’t going to be lots of chances.

“I thought tactically we were very good in what we were trying to do.

“I thought out of possession we were really, really impressive. Really structured, really disciplined and incredibly tough to break down.

“There was no magical team-talk. Whether you go 1-0 up or 1-0 down, it’s important you never go away from your training.

“We were never going to come to Chesterfield and blow them out of the water in the first 20 minutes. We knew it was going to be tough and we would have to bide our time.

“I’d love to take the credit for a magical team-talk at half time but it was pretty simple, to be honest.

“I won’t go through individuals. I thought there were so many impressive performances.”