Hogg expects rule change after Cobblers speak to refereeing chiefs over Crewe goal
Cobblers boss Chris Hogg expects a tweak to the rules in the future after the club spoke to the relevant authorities over Josh March’s contentious winning goal during Saturday’s game at Gresty Road.
March left the field of play and did not immediately re-enter 54 minutes into the League Two fixture, instead hiding behind the post and waiting for Town goalkeeper Zach Jeacock to drop the ball. Once he did, the striker raced onto the pitch, poked the ball away from Jeacock and tapped in.
The rules can be interpreted in various ways but Hogg and the club felt such a situation should not have been allowed, with Town’s manager calling for clarity in his post-match interview.
Asked if he’s spoken to the authorities this week, Hogg said: “The club have. (Chris) Doigy spoke to the referees. I stay out of it. They know my opinion because I spoke to them after the game and I had cool myself down a little bit before doing the press.
“Personally, I didn’t like it. The laws are there to mould the game and give the referees some guidelines but I’m sure there will be changes to that law in the future. It’s a grey area in terms of going off the pitch with natural momentum and it needs a bit of refining.
“I don’t want to spend too long on it because it’s been and gone but I do think that goal highlights the fact it needs looking at. It’ll take time to come into the game but I’m sure you’ll see a change in the future. But it’s in the past and it doesn’t help us now.”
Crewe chairman Charles Grant gave his view of the incident earlier this week, saying: “I didn’t think it was actually going to happen because you see it so many times where a player hides behind the goalkeeper. Normally the goalkeeper sees him but on this occasion he didn’t and I was delighted.
“There’s been loads of debate and that’s what makes football so great. Everybody will have their opinion - is it fair play? The powers that be decide whether it’s legal or not but, for me, I think he was tactically savvy.
“I felt a bit for the goalkeeper but there’s no point being coy about it, it was a tight game, I thought we played well, and we nicked goal and we’re delighted.”
Hogg hopes such an incident will not happen again, adding: “We’re having ongoing conversations with the authorities and I spoke to the referee immediately after the game. Everyone is aware of the ambiguity of the law.
“The comments afterwards mean very little because the result stands but it’s sparked a bit of a debate about what’s right and what’s wrong and I think there will be changes in the future.”