Soccer
Chris Hogg says Lee Evans dismissal ‘never a red’ as Northampton held by Crawley
Northampton boss Chris Hogg was unhappy with the decision to send off Lee Evans during the 1-1 home draw against Crawley.
Hogg’s side were second best in the first half at Sixfields but led at half-time thanks to Nathan Opoku’s well-taken goal.
However, having started the second half well, midfielder Evans was dismissed for a lunging tackle and Crawley quickly levelled through Dion Pereira.
The visitors had chances to win it but a combination of the woodwork and some excellent saves from goalkeeper Zach Jeacock denied them victory.
“It was a tough night all round,” said Hogg, whose side remain without a win this season.
“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, 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.
“This group has plenty of spirit and plenty of belief and we need to keep building that.”
On the decision to send off Evans, Hogg added: “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.”
Crawley manager Colin Kazim-Richards had mixed emotions.
He said: “I’m frustrated in terms of the result but not the performance.
“We were disappointed with our performance and the result against Bristol Rovers but to go away from home on a Tuesday night and perform like that, it shows the mentality and the character of the team is top.
“We still dropped two points, we pushed and pushed, but it wasn’t to be.
“If they hadn’t gone down to 10 men, I think we would have won because they just stayed in a block and shuffled.
“The first few minutes wasn’t what we wanted but, after that, I felt we controlled the whole game.
“It’s frustrating because we know how good we can be but we have to limit the unforced errors.
“They had one shot on target and scored it and that’s football, fair play to them, but we could have scored four, five, six.
“It feels like a loss but we can turn this into a massive point going forward.”
