Barrow boss Pete Wild bemoaned a controversial decision which he felt cost his side two points in their clash with leaders Stockport.
The Hatters had fought back from two goals down to level at 2-2 when George Ray thought he had scored a late winner for the Bluebirds, only for referee Martin Coy and his officials to spot a foul in the build-up.
Wild was fuming, and said: “Barring a ludicrous refereeing decision, we would have won the game.
“As George is kicking the ball in the net, the fourth (official) is shouting, ‘man down’. But two minutes later Elliot Newby is on the floor and he lets it run for another 45 seconds, so where is the consistency?
“Their manager had a pop at him (the referee) at half-time and he came out for the second half and was a different character.”
Barrow, playing in front a record crowd at Holker Street, stunned Stockport as Ben Whitfield and Kian Spence scored inside the opening 24 minutes.
But inspired by a plethora of substitutions, County stormed back through Nick Powell and one-time Barrow player Akil Wright either side of the break.
Wild added: “We were outstanding for the first 45 minutes. Stockport have all the resources in the world; just look at the four players they rolled on.
“But we went toe-to-toe with them. We both had spells, so a draw was probably a fair result.
“They were all over us for the first 20 minutes of the second half. But we finished the stronger and I thought we were the ones to go on and win the game.”
Stockport boss Dave Challinor made his first changes three minutes before the interval, and he said: “It wasn’t easy because you don’t like taking people off in a game before half-time.
“People might see that as a slight on them or embarrassment. It makes no difference to me as ultimately it’s about getting something out of the game.
“If there hadn’t been rules about how many opportunities you get to make changes, I would have made all four at the same time.
“The choice was wait until half-time and potentially waste 15 minutes, or do you make the decision then?
“One thing is for certain both Barrow’s goals were offside.
“If I had been offered a point after half-an-hour being 2-0 down I would have taken it.
“But as the game panned out, I’m disappointed we didn’t go on to win it.”
No Neymar return until 2025, says Al-Hilal boss Jesus
Neymar will not return from his anterior cruciate ligament injury until January 2025 at the earliest, Al-Hilal boss Jorge Jesus has warned.
Neymar left Paris Saint-Germain for Al-Hilal in a €90million deal in August 2023, becoming one of the faces of the Saudi Pro League's major recruitment drive.
However, he only played five matches for the club before rupturing his ACL while on international duty with Brazil last October.
The 32-year-old subsequently missed the remainder of the season as well as the Selecao's ill-fated Copa America campaign, and he remains some way away from a return.
Neymar was removed from Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League squad in September, with the 19-time champions only able to register a maximum of eight foreign players for the first half of the season.
Reports had suggested Neymar was close to a return after Al-Hilal posted footage of him training on social media, but Jesus says Brazil's all-time leading scorer must wait until the halfway point of the campaign before being considered.
"Neymar is an important player for Al Hilal and the league in general," Jesus told reporters on Tuesday.
"I can't, however, specify a date as to when he will return, but we will look at the situation in January."
With no restrictions on foreign players featuring in the AFC Champions League, Neymar could, in theory, play in that competition if he returns to fitness before January.
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King's Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King's Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
Al-Bukayriyah 0-1 Al-Hilal: Leonardo sends defending King Cup champions through
Marcos Leonardo's first-half penalty was enough to book Al-Hilal a spot in the King Cup round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Al-Bukayriyah.
The defending champions dominated from the start, with Abdullah Al Hamddan and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both seeing early efforts saved by Dziugas Bartkus.
Al Hamddan then won the game-winning spot-kick in the 40th minute, being brought down in the box by Ibrahim Al Sunaytan, and Leonardo made no mistake from 12 yards.
Al-Hilal kept pushing for another goal, with substitutes Renan Lodi and Aleksandar Mitrovic both testing Bartkus in the second half, but they could not add to the scoreline.
Neymar, who is gearing up for his return to action after a year on the sidelines, was not involved for Al-Hilal, who lead the way in the Saudi Pro League.
Data Debrief: Leonardo proves the difference
Al-Hilal were dominant in the first half, completely overwhelming their opponents as they had 12 of their 17 shots before the break, getting five of those on target.
But across the 90 minutes, it was Leonardo who was the standout, having the second-most shots (three) and accumulating 0.82 expected goals (xG).
His only shot on target may have been the winning penalty, but he proved a handful as he also had the most touches in the opposition box (10).
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
