Hogg reflects on 'tough night' after contentious red card in Crawley draw
Chris Hogg admitted it was a ‘tough night all round’ after his side battled to a point against Crawley despite playing with 10 men for most of the second half.
Nathan Opoku’s well-taken gave Cobblers the lead despite a shaky first half performance, but the decision to send off Lee Evans 10 minutes after the break changed the game.
Dion Pereira levelled and Crawley were then denied by a combination of the woodwork, some last-ditch defending and three fine saves from goalkeeper Zach Jeacock.
“It was a tough night all round,” said Hogg. “We scored against the run of play in the first half but the goal gave us a little bit of belief and we managed to get in at half-time and tweak a few things.
“I thought we started the second half really well and it was more back to what we could have been and what we should have been in the first half.
“But the game changes on a decision and it becomes a tough game for us, but I have to say some of the saves from Zach and some of the defending was great. To see the boys dig in was really good and they had to do it to come out with a point.”
On the sending off, Hogg said: “It’s never a red card for me and it’s the consistency from referees at this level. There was one at Gillingham at the weekend which was probably worse and he didn’t even get booked.”