Richard Hill: Eastleigh inspired by sense of injustice at Newport

By Sports Desk January 06, 2024

Eastleigh manager Richard Hill claimed his side used the sense of injustice after George Langston’s first-half red card to inspire them to fight back from a goal down to earn a replay with a 1-1 draw at Newport.

Centre-back Langston was sent off for an elbow on County midfielder Harry Charsley seven minutes before the break, leaving the National League side with an uphill task.

And League Two County looked to be on their way to the fourth round once defender James Clarke turned in Shane McLoughlin’s corner in the 56th minute.

But Clarke brought down 25-goal Spitfires striker Paul McCallum in the box and Chris Maguire, who had earlier hit the post, levelled with a confident penalty into the top corner eight minutes from time.

“We had to give it a go,” said Hill, whose side dumped out League One Reading in the second round. “There was no point just keeping the score down in the last 20 minutes.

“We made positive substitutions and we’ve got players who are pretty special in certain areas of the pitch, and anything can happen.”

Hill was unhappy with the decision to show Langston a straight red and felt the home crowd influenced the officials.

“I’ve got to be careful – the FA police will be watching – it was a foul to us,” he added. “Will Evans was fouling our boys throughout the game, but sometimes the officials aren’t good enough to see that because they haven’t played the game. The crowd affected the linesman for the whole game as well.

“We felt a little bit aggrieved, and it motivated us. We sailed by the seat of our pants, but we were resolute. And when it went 1-1, I was telling the lads to go and win it.”

Maguire was the hero for the 1,000 travelling fans and Hill paid tribute to the experienced former Aberdeen, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland man for his composure.

“There’s no better in the National League, or in League Two, than Chris Maguire to be in that position,” he insisted.

“He said to me as he was coming off the pitch ‘never in doubt’ and you have to believe him.

“We’ve only done half a job and we have to be mindful of that. We can’t think it’s a foregone conclusion, but we’ve got another chance.”

Exiles boss Graham Coughlan was also angry at referee Ed Duckworth for the penalty decision.

“It was a shocker,” said Coughlan. “It was based around the first-half decision to send their centre-half off.

“As a former centre-half I have taken a few and chucked a few, so know when one is chucked deliberately.”

The replay at the Silverlake Stadium is an unwanted extra fixture for the Welsh side, who should have been out of sight before the equaliser.

“I have mixed emotions,” added Coughlan. “We played really well, were the dominant team and moved the ball well to get into good positions.

“Before the sending off we were good and created chances that we just didn’t finish.

“Unfortunately, we are coming away from a game yet again talking about a ridiculous decision.

“We should have seen the game through, but the game was always likely to swing on a naive refereeing decision.

“We shoot ourselves in the foot, that’s evident, and I’ve got to take ownership for that.

“Overall, we need to realise how well we played, it was just that finishing touch and little bit of quality in the final third.”

Related items

  • Everton x-x Brentford: xxx Everton x-x Brentford: xxx
  • Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner 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."

  • Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run 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. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.