GRIMSBY manager David Artell believes justice was done after his goalkeeper Jordan Wright saved a second-half penalty in the 0-0 draw against Newport County AFC in League Two.
Artell was not happy with the performance from referee James Oldham, who ruled that Kieran Green had brought down County striker Kyle Hudlin in the box just before the hour.
But Wright came to the rescue with a superb save, diving low to his left to keep out Hudlin’s spot kick.
“The penalty decision was horrific,” said Artell. “Both benches agreed that’s just not a penalty.
“Referees make mistakes and that was 100 per cent a mistake. It was a clean tackle, a brilliant tackle.
“I don’t think the referee had his best game. They could have had a penalty early on, and there should have been a red card in the first half – [Bobby] Kamwa nearly broke Ty’s leg. And we scored a goal that wasn’t offside.
“The ref made some bad decisions, but then so did my players and Newport’s players.”
Grimsby boss David Artell (Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)
Grimsby had won five successive League Two games on the road before this match, but Artell was reasonably happy with a point that kept his side seventh in the table.
“I thought both teams could have won it and both could have lost it,” he added.
“It was a competitive game. On the one hand, I’m delighted with the clean sheet and our unbeaten run continuing away from home.
“On the flip side, did we do enough to win it? Maybe, on another day. We had some great chances, but so did they. So, maybe a point is a fair result.”
