Life’s a beach for fuming Murray
MANSFIELD Town manager Adam Murray laid into his team, referee Gavin Ward and the Rodney Parade pitch after the Stags’ promotion charge was caught in a sand trap at Newport County.
Murray’s men slipped out of the League Two play-off spots following Scott Boden’s 86th-minute winner for the hosts on an awful playing surface in South Wales.
County, who moved eight points clear of the bottom two thanks to Boden’s 13th goal of the season, share their home with rugby sides Newport RFC and Newport Gwent Dragons.
And the heavy use and poor weather have taken their toll on the playing surface, forcing the ground staff to dump 40 tons of sand on the pitch last week.
That made for difficult conditions for both sides but it wasn’t the only thing to upset Murray, who felt the winning goal could have been ruled out.
“It’s definitely offside but it took a deflection off someone so I’m not 100 per cent sure,” said the Stags boss.
“But we did not deserve anything out of that game. It was a flat performance and an awful game.
“There was no football played whatsoever. It was a bad day at the office.
“The referee was poor. He didn’t have control of the game from the first minute and was throwing yellow cards around like sweets.
“And the pitch was horrendous. I understand that there’s three teams playing on it and there’s only so much you can do but it’s not fit for a professional level at League Two.
“It was really poor and it turns it into a farce – the ball was bobbling everywhere and it must have been a horrible spectacle.”
County manager Warren Feeney was delighted with three points for his side and unconcerned by the attritional nature of the game.
“It was a massive result for us,” he said. “Mansfield have been on a great run and are really organised but I believe in our players and we do what we’re good at.
“Good teams win 1-0 like the old Arsenal and when I saw the pitch, I suspected there would only be a goal in it.
“We kept plugging away and we deserved the win after creating the better chances. And when you have Scott Boden in this sort of form, you know you’ve got a chance.
“We won’t dwell on the decision for the goal. I only care about the three points.
“It was always going to be difficult on that pitch because the sand saps the legs. Perhaps the lads could have brought their buckets and spades, but that’s the way it has to be with so many games being played on it.”