Saturday saw League Two action between relegation-fighting Hartlepool United and promotion-chasing Northampton Town at Victoria Park, and to say the game had a few questionable moments would be playing things down as the teams battled out in a 1-1 draw. The score, however, isn’t even being mentioned amongst fans, it’s the manner in how the game unfolded that has become the key talking point.
In a game neither could afford to lose, both sets of fans left feeling frustrated with referee Thomas Kirk and his team, which when looked at in-depth, you can really understand where the frustrations stem from.
We spoke to fans from either side and simply asked them to share their view on the 3 main points being discussed;
- Josh Umerah’s 11th league goal of the season in the first half, which on reflection seemed to be offside.
- Northampton’s 81st-minute equaliser – not the goal itself, but the corner that was taken whilst the ball was seemingly still in motion.
- Euan Murray’s foul on Jack Sowerby in the 59th minute – a high arm raised right before contact which left Sowerby with reported double vision.
First up we spoke to Hartlepool Podcast, HUFC Chat who took the time to break down each point for us. However, for the Umerah goal, it seems that the bathrooms at Victoria Park have become more appealing than what happens on the pitch this season.
“Well, I did miss the goal yesterday to go to the toilets however after watching the goal back numerous times it seems to be very very tight. I’m unfortunately not in a position to say whether it was or wasn’t.”
PSA – YOU NEVER GO TO THE TOILET DURING A GAME. YOU SIT IN YOUR SEAT AND YOU BE UNCOMFORTABLE.
On the other two points, however, the views were given and it would be interesting if Pools fans agreed with what is said, especially on the Murray foul.
“Northampton Goal – This has definitely created somewhat of a storm since the game. Truthfully from my point of view, the corner didn’t seem bound to the law of the game. I’m not saying that because we conceded but given the whole manner of the moment, I just feel the best outcome would have been to retake the corner.”
The law referred to does show that this should have been retaken. The ball has to be stationary before it is taken. Some fans have argued that the corner was actually taken not by Mitchell Pinnock but by Marc Leonard – however, that would also mean a foul should be called as Leonard in that case passed the ball to himself and ran in to cross.
You can see the corner below and judge for yourself.
https://twitter.com/LowerLeagueLook/status/1634686192510808065?s=20
We move on to what we feel is the most controversial talking point – Should Euan Murray have received a red card? On the video below it looks dangerous and it looks like the only reason the contact with the arm wasn’t cleaner was because of the collision with the thigh which knocked Sowerby off balance.
HUFC Chat responded to this;
“It’s a really tough one. It’s one of those where you’ve seen players get sent off for that kind of thing and you’ve seen some get yellow cards. From my angle of it yesterday it was evidently clumsy and cynical from Euan Murray to engage in that situation like he did but you couldn’t half tell the Northampton player was playing up to the moment. Overall I’d say he’s been quite lucky in one sense”
Was Murray lucky to remain on the pitch? Northampton certainly seem to think so if you read between the lines of their tweet about the incident.
https://twitter.com/ntfc/status/1634826560200134664
Now I know what you’re thinking, we said we’d spoken to fans from both sides, so why have we only posted quotes from HUFC Chat? Well the answer is simple. We spoke to the guys at the It’s All Cobblers To Me podcast and they beautifully answered all 3 points at the same time;
“Afternoon. All 3 were terrible decisions.”
If that isn’t just the perfect summary then I don’t know what is.
What were your thoughts on the decisions and does this just add to the arguments that more focus is needed on refereeing in the lower leagues?
