Former Premier League referee says officials made the right decision during Cobblers' win over Harrogate

Former Premier League referee Chris Foy believes the officials made the right decision when allowing Sam Hoskins’ goal to stand during Saturday’s League Two encounter between Northampton and Harrogate at Sixfields.

Town’s top scorer looked marginally onside when he latched onto Kieron Bowie’s pass and fired across goalkeeper Mark Oxley to make it 2-1 – his 21st goal of the season – on 23 minutes.

Harrogate appealed in vain for offside and Foy, discussing the incident in his weekly Behind the Whistle column for Sky Sports, believes the correct decision was made by Sebastian Stockbridge and his officials.

He said: “This is a more difficult offside call for the assistant referee given the defender’s intention to step out and play the Northampton Town forward offside.

"I think watching the footage back, the defender steps out slightly too late, with his trailing leg still close to the edge of the area at the time of the pass, which the assistant referee reads perfectly and keeps the flag down.

"It’s a decision I think the assistant referee has called correctly.”

In Behind the Whistle, Foy goes through a selection of key match decisions from the latest Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two action.

Although many decisions made on the pitch are of a subjective nature, Behind the Whistle aims to give supporters of EFL clubs an insight into the decision-making considerations and also clarification of certain calls to provide an understanding of how the laws of the game are interpreted.

As part of a regular feature on Sky Sports following the conclusion of a matchday, Foy will run through some refereeing matters in the EFL.