Dreadful spot call killed us, says Hughton
CHRIS Hughton rued a “dreadful” penalty decision by referee Kevin Friend which he felt killed Nottingham Forest’s momentum and the hope of an FA Cup fightback against Swansea.
Trailing 2-0 at the interval, winger Anthony Knockaert gave the Reds a glimmer of hope in the fourth round clash at the Liberty Stadium, after Steve Cooper’s side had taken the lead through Liam Cullen and Matt Grimes.
But, with Forest in the ascendancy, Swansea were awarded a penalty when Ryan Manning was tripped on the edge of the box. Friend pointed to the spot and Grimes grabbed his second of the game to make it 3-1.
Hughton was adamant at the time of the incident it was not a foul and seeing replays of the challenge after the game only reaffirmed his belief that Forest were hard done by.
The Reds boss said it effectively handed the momentum back to the Swans, who went on to win 5-1 against their Championship rivals with further goals from Cullen and Oli Cooper.
“We were beaten by the better side,” said Hughton.
“Even though Swansea made a fair few changes, they are in a confident mood and that can reach right through the club.
“We made too many mistakes, which you can’t afford to do against a team in form.
“In the first half period, we accept we were second-best.
“But having got back to 2-1, which was our best chance of getting a result from the game, the referee makes a dreadful decision.
“I was quite confident from where I was that it wasn’t a penalty and of course I have seen it again afterwards.
“There’s no doubt at that moment it changes the game.
“The lad has gone down and I don’t like to use the word dive, but from every angle I have seen there is no contact.
“If somebody can show me something different then I will hold my hand up. “Certainly what it is is simulation. “If the referee has to make a decision, then it has to be a booking to the lad who has gone down.
“I’ve got no complaints about other aspects of the game because we were up against a Swansea team who were better than us.
“We conceded poor goals, but at that time it’s 2-1 and it’s our best spell of the game.”