Opposition view: Aggrieved Duff unhappy with Goode's part in late red card and accuses ref of being 'conned' by Cobblers

Cheltenham Town manager Michael Duff was unhappy with Charlie Goode's part in Alex Addai's late red card and accused referee Martin Coy of being 'conned' by the Cobblers throughout Sunday's 1-1 draw.
Cheltenham's Alex Addai was sent off in stoppage-time. Picture: Pete NortonCheltenham's Alex Addai was sent off in stoppage-time. Picture: Pete Norton
Cheltenham's Alex Addai was sent off in stoppage-time. Picture: Pete Norton

Duff also felt aggrieved by the decision not to sent off Jordan Turnbull when he brought down George Lloyd as the Cheltenham striker raced through on goal.

Conor Thomas converted the subsequent penalty but Duff's frustration only grew when Turnbull himself equalised late in the first-half and ultimately earned Town a point.

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"We were on the wrong end of the decisions," said the Robins boss. "The way Northampton want to play, they want to buy free-kicks and load the ball into the box and I thought the referee got conned a lot of the time today.

"I think it's a stonewall red card for the penalty and I'm not quite sure how they can justify the fact that it wasn't a red card.

"Even at the end, their lad is rubbing Alex's head from the byline to the halfway line and OK, he does react - but just blow the whistle!

"We're a minute and a half over the allotted time so he could have just defused the situation but away from that I thought we showed a lot of resilience and a lot of determination."

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While Keith Curle felt Turnbull's foul was outside the penalty box, Duff insisted the Cobblers centre-back should have seen red.

"I spoke to the fourth official because I couldn't understand why it wasn't a red card," he added. "He's clean through and he's told me he tried to make a genuine attempt for the ball but it's a red card and I don't need to see it back.

"There's no point dwelling on that now. It's a tough enough place to come as it is without decisions like that going against us.

"Northampton have won six on the spin at home so it's a tough place to come but there were a lot of positives within a really tough and difficult afternoon.

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"We knew what they would do and I think we kept them at arm's length in the first-half and we were a threat on the counter-attack but the final pass wasn't quite there.

"We played like that because we wanted to pick them off as they commit a lot of bodies forward, but our defenders dealt with loads of balls into the box and did it really well, generally."