Paul Crowson admitted that Moulton Harrox were left bitterly disappointed by Saturday’s controversial 4-3 defeat against ChromaSport PDFL Premier Division title rivals Netherton United.
Harrox looked to be cruising to an impressive victory over the table-toppers at Broad Lane, with strikes from Joe Townsend, Marcus Parry and skipper Billy King – direct from a corner – putting them 3-0 up inside 30 minutes.
Netherton rallied and pegged Harrox back to 3-3 with strikes from Adam Scott and Roberto Da Silva (2), before Dan Woods then fired a crucial penalty wide for Moulton.
That opened the door for Tom Randall to complete Netherton’s comeback with a hotly-disputed late penalty.
Ryan Wood won the spot-kick with what appeared to be a clear dive – and to make matters worse Matt Watkin was given a second yellow card for giving the penalty away.
With tempers boiling over Moulton also saw Townsend sent off – but assistant boss Crowson understands why his players were frustrated.
He said: “It was a dive without a shadow of a doubt. I’m sorry, but it wouldn’t have looked out of place at a swimming pool.
“There was no contact whatsoever. Sadly, the referee was the only one not to notice and he gave it.
“We also felt that Da Silva should have been sent off for pushing Billy King. To be honest, I had to check it wasn’t Friday the 13th.
“But we also have to look at ourselves. We shouldn’t give a 3-0 lead away, even if Netherton refused to give up at any point. Our defending wasn’t good enough.
“In the end it came down to two penalties. Dan missed for us, they scored.
“We’ll not dwell on the defeat. There was obvious frustration from Joe, but when we look at the table we’re still very much in the hunt for the title.”
Defending champions Harrox are now third going into the Christmas break.
Harrox: Kenealy, Groves, McGuire, Coddington, Watkin, King, Cawthorne, Allen, Townsend, Parry, Woods. Not used: Bradbury, Lambe-Hyner, Price, Steadman.
