Speaking to the press after Wrexham’s defeat at Southampton, Phil Parkinson shared his anger at one refereeing decision.
Wrexham put on a good show in their Championship opener on Saturday. The Dragons headed to St Mary’s for a difficult game against relegated Southampton, but until the 90th minute, it was Phil Parkinson’s side who were in front.
In the end though, Wrexham lost 2-1 against Southampton, owing to two late goals from the Saints. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise good overall performance for Wrexham, but manager Parkinson had one bone to pick after full-time.
Phil Parkinson fumes at refereeing decision in Southampton 2-1 Wrexham
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Parkinson was discussing some of the key moments and one of which was the penalty. Clean through on goal, debutant Kieffer Moore was pushed down by Southampton defender Ronnie Edwards. The referee, James Bell, pointed to the spot but Edwards stayed on the pitch even escaping a yellow card.
Parkinson however believes it should have been a straight red. He said: “My only question to the ref at the minute is, when Kieffer’s running through, and I’ll have to check the rule, but I thought it it’s an intentional foul then it’s a red card… The lad’s just pushed him to the ground as he’s about to strike the ball in the net.
“In my interpretation of the rules, that’s a straight red, and I can’t see how he hasn’t got that right.”
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Mark Clattenburg weighs in on Wrexham penalty incident
Giving some expert insight on the incident, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg spoke to Wrexham Insider about the Moore penalty incident, and Clattenburg believes that the only thing saving Edwards from being shown a straight red card is the covering defender that was also there at the time.
Clattenburg explained: “Ronnie Edwards’ challenge was deemed a challenge that was not worthy of a red card after awarding a penalty kick. The referee James Bell had to deem if the challenge was a genuine attempt for the ball to award a red card. A push in the back is not a genuine attempt to play the ball so therefore the only other thing that can save Edward from a red card is a covering defender.
“I believe that there is a covering defender so is a doubt if a goal scoring opportunity to Moore. However, a yellow card should have been shown as it stops a promising attacking.”
For Wrexham, as disappointing as the result was, and as frustrating as the penalty incident might have been, there were still a huge amount of positives to take from the game.
Wrexham were predicted to lose against Southampton anyway, but going toe-to-toe with this Southampton side and then being disappointed not to have won the game shows that Wrexham can definitely compete in the Championship this year.
Next up, Wrexham play Hull City in the EFL Cup first round on Tuesday night, before hosting West Brom in their opening home league game of the season.