Crewe boss Lee Bell appeared to point the finger at Harrogate following a freak injury to matchwinner Zac Williams, who tripped over a frost sheet.
Williams’ 31st-minute header secured a 1-0 win for Alex but he limped out of the action at the end of the first half after falling over and twisting his ankle.
It was an incident that Bell thought could have been avoided, arguing that the sheets had been deliberately positioned to combat Mickey Demetriou’s long throw, which proved the source of Williams’ goal.
“They put the frost sheets down because of Mickey’s throw-in, which we ended up scoring the winner from anyway,” the Crewe chief claimed. “I spotted them when we went out and moved them because they were too close to the touchline and we said that somebody would trip over or crash into them.
“As it happened, Zac went over them and twisted his ankle going to get the ball, so it was a freak accident but one I think could have been avoided.”
Bell was pleased, however, with his team’s first back-to-back away wins since August 2021, adding: “Our away form is getting better and it couldn’t have got much worse, let’s be honest. But we have a percentage of points we want to pick up away from home to make sure we progress in the league and we’re on track to achieving that.
“It was a fantastic win off the back of our first home defeat for a long time. Harrogate were also coming off the back of a heavy loss, so it was all about two teams looking for a reaction and I thought we were really professional throughout and controlled large periods.”
Harrogate boss Simon Weaver watched his team slump to a fifth straight home defeat – the club’s worst sequence since 2010.
He felt there were signs of improvement but admitted that Williams’ goal was “really poor” from a defensive perspective.
“We’ve been through their goal on the video and I think we made honest mistakes, because a number of players went for the same ball,” Weaver pointed out. “They wanted to do the right thing but they got in each other’s way and it was a bit of carnage in there, so it ended up being a really poor goal to concede.
“Overall, I’m a little bit down about the result, but I thought the performance was a lot better, especially in the second half when we were more aggressive in our approach and caused them problems by playing with energy in their half. We could have maybe cranked up the intensity a bit more in the last 10 minutes and gone a bit more direct.
“That might have got us a scruffy goal, but we were, at least, asking a few more questions than in the first half. The next step now is to get that home win.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Man United could be without Toone until Christmas, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
