Hurst left fuming as ref costs the Shrews
SHREWSBURY boss Paul Hurst bemoaned the lack of physicality allowed in modern-day football after his side fought back to earn a point at Swindon.
Both teams were reduced to ten men in the second half and Hurst was critical of referee Nigel Miller’s decision to send Aristote Nsiala off on his debut, let alone award the penalty.
He said: “For me, Nsiala wins the ball.
“They’ve said it’s twofooted but I’ve seen the challenge back and it’s never two-footed. He wins the ball you can see that from where the ball goes.
“These days it’s like you can’t tackle. A lot of the game felt like an academy game, you couldn’t touch anyone. I thought football was a man’s game.”
On his side’s goal, which was controversially awarded by the linesman after Mat Sadler’s header hit the underside of the bar before bouncing down into the goal, Hurst added:
“The keeper (Lawrence Vigouroux) is saying it’s not over the line and I would have good eyesight from where I was stood but it seemed as though it bounced over the line.
“But again, he (Vigouroux) was closer than me so he might have a point but my initial thought was that it went in.”
Shrewsbury suffered a double-blow when Nsiala was sent off in the 52nd minute for his foul on Luke Norris in the box.
Swindon’s John Goddard stepped up to fire his penalty past Jayson Leutwiler, who had guessed the right way but was beaten by the power of the shot.
The home side were then reduced to ten men in the 70th minute after James Brophy picked up his second yellow card for a challenge on Freddie Lapado.
Shrewsbury’s Sadler headed the equaliser ten minutes later to ensure his side didn’t slump to a fourth consecutive defeat.
After his team threw away three points, Robins head coach Luke Williams, said: “We seemed to play without intelligence. The bottom line is pressure.
“I think the players are feeling the pressure and that is affecting their decision-making.
“It was a bad decision (Brophy’s challenge) in the heat of the moment and it cost us.
“Being booed off at half-time and booed off at the end is becoming normal, we live that constantly.
“I am not here to criticise the crowd but it can affect the decisions you make if you are constantly being booed and harassed. But that is part and parcel of the job we do.”