Fury as goal-line technology fails
HUDDERSFIELD 0 BLACKPOOL 1
HUDDERSFIELD boss Danny Schofield was left furious after an apparent failure of the goal decision system cost his team a vital equaliser yesterday.
The Terriers remain second-bottom of the Championship after referee John Busby waved for play to continue as Yuta nakayama celebrated after believing he had scored just after the hour mark. nakayama had powered in a header and when Danny Grimshaw saved, managed to squeeze the ball between the goalkeeper and his post and over the line. Grimshaw reacted quickly to smother the ball and swiftly held it back in play. After consulting his wristwatch linked to the Hawk-Eye system at use in all Championships grounds, the unsighted official did not give the goal.
The decision meant that Theo Corbeanu’s goal gave Blackpool victory and left Huddersfield with just one win from their opening seven games.
‘I have seen it a number of times, stills and different angles and it’s a tough one to take because we feel it was a goal that was never awarded,’ said Schofield.
‘He points to his watch and said he was going off the goalline technology. It’s very difficult to put any blame on the referee — it’s down to the technology and we feel that the system has failed us. ‘We’ve not had the best start to the season in terms of points on the board and that was a big moment to get some more points, so we feel frustrated and let down.’ Blackpool manager Michael Appleton was delighted with the stroke of luck but said he had avoided watching replays of the incident after being told it probably should have been a goal. ‘I’ve been told it’s potentially over the line and if it is, it’s not great from their point of view,’ he said. ‘We had one similar last year at QPR. There were a lot of players who played on that day who played today.
‘It’s easy to forget what’s happened to this football club so I’m not going to worry too much that something at last has gone our way.’ Corbeanu was on hand to knock in the winner in the 38th minute after a poor mistake by Kaine Kesler-Hayden set Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel clear.
He squared to Ian Poveda and when his shot bounced back off the post Corbeanu pounced.