There was confusion as Joe Nuttall gets booked for his penalty ‘mishap’ and the ref instead awards a free-kick to Newcastle.
It happened around 12 minutes from time in the National League Cup quarter final clash, with Newcastle U21s 3-2 up.
The referee gave Altrincham a spot kick… Nuttall ran up to kick it but stopped, he pointed to the ground, then the referee showed a yellow card and gave a free kick to Newcastle.
Altrincham did however managed to take the game to a penalty shootout, with Justin Amaluzor scoring in the 90th minute, then Alty won 3-2 on pens.
— River 🏁 (@DFCRiver) February 26, 2025
No goal!
Joe Nuttall fails to make contact with the ball during his spot-kick and the young Magpies are awarded a free-kick.
[2-3] 79′
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 25, 2025
— Jimbob (@jimwsteele1) February 25, 2025
The EX PGMOL boss making an utter fool of himself AGAIN.
His whole agenda is weaponising referees performances to continue his clear agenda against the @FA_PGMOL without any regard for the well-being of the referee he uses as a weapon in his Trogan Horse “referee man” utter… pic.twitter.com/puJVBpuetp
— Refsupportuk (@refsupportuk) February 26, 2025
Altrincham said in their match report: “Alty had seen an early 2-0 lead overturned by three Newcastle goals and were striving for an equaliser when a foul on substitute Remi Thompson inside the area threw them a lifeline in the form of a 77th-minute spot-kick.
“Alty missed out on an equaliser in bizarre circumstances after Reddin turned brilliantly on the left of the area and set up Thompson, who was upended by a defender for a penalty.
“Joe Nuttall placed the ball carefully and took a few paces back before starting a run-up that suddenly ground to a halt with the keeper committed to a dive and the Alty striker’s right foot a matter of millimetres away from making contact with the kick.
“It could only be assumed his boot got stuck in the thick mud surrounding the penalty spot, but what should happen next was anyone’s guess as Nuttall looked quizzically towards referee William Davis and players of both sides rushed towards the official to state their case.
“Nuttall stepped up and took a couple of paces towards the ball before inexplicably stopping at the point of impact. A quick look back over his shoulder seemed to suggest his studs had got caught in the cloying mud, and that appeared to be the case he was making to the referee, as he argued for a retake.
“Eventually, to the dismay of Nuttall and his team-mates, Davis signalled a free-kick to Newcastle from the spot, and Alty looked to be heading out of the competition, with time ticking away.
“But Justin Amaluzor headed the Robins back on level terms in the last minute, and, irony of ironies, Phil Parkinson’s side prevailed in the subsequent penalty shoot-out!
“The muddy conditions may well have contributed to one Alty spot-kick and two by Newcastle being ballooned over the bar, but credit to Kahrel Reddin, Matty Kosylo and Amaluzor for holding their nerve and also to substitute keeper Harvey Randle for denying one of the visitors’ kicks with a quite brilliant save.”
Altrincham Lainton (Randle, 46′); Cooper (c), Osborne (Griffiths, 14′), Taylor, Kosylo, Weaver (Amaluzor, 46′), Reddin, Golden (Banks, 46′), Nuttall, Bickerstaff (Thompson, 73′), Pasiek. Subs not used: J.Jones, Crawford.
Newcastle Taylor; Shahar, Charlton, Bailey (Finneran, 46′), Heffernan (c), Thompson, Kuol, Stanton, Neave, Turner-Cooke, Emerson (Harrison, 76′). Subs not used: Craggs, Anderson, Brayson, Ferreira, Palmer.
HT 2-2
Penalties Griffiths (Saved) | Harrison (Scored) | Reddin (Scored) | Stanton (Missed) | Cooper (Missed) | Turner-Cooke (Scored) | Kosylo (Scored) | Neave (Saved) | Amaluzor (Scored) | Shahar (Missed)
Goals Reddin 6′, Taylor 10′, Amaluzor 90′ | Kuol 19′, 57′, Turner-Cooke 29′
Yellows Taylor 51′, Nuttall 78′ | Finneran 63′
Reds None | None
Referee William Davis
Assistant Drew Dutton & Adewunmi Soneye
Fourth official Jack Nield
Attendance 623
🗣️ 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭
Phil Parkinson on tonight’s quarter-final win over @NUFC u21s 💪#YourTownYourClub pic.twitter.com/X4T1VmL70Q
— Altrincham FC (@altrinchamfc) February 25, 2025
Twitter users reacted over confusion as Joe Nuttall gets booked for a penalty ‘mishap’ and the ref awards a free-kick to Newcastle…
@nikstorey_: Interesting one for all the referees/ those interested in referee decisions out there at Altrincham tonight. Nuttal stops just before taking the penalty. Decision: IdFK to opposition. Agree?
@inaminute23: No. His foot gets stuck so stops. Player knows he has so can’t kick the ball. Common sense should “kick” in and the pen be taken again.
@altyapple: He doesn’t do it deliberately, his planted leg slips so he looks to take it again
@ethansgrumps: Apparently a rule change that says once you reach the ball you’re not allowed to stutter/stop. Okay on the run in but not where he did it
@Jackt6374: fancy getting some actual grass lads?
@Harry_Rudkin: He clearly slips in his run-up. You can see the turf move. Surely this is a rare occasion where the ref should take this into account?
@_OCoyne: It’s a new rule from this season to stop feinting penalties. You can feint and stutter during the run up but once you reach the ball you can’t stop
@CW9_MCFC: But he hasn’t stuttered in the kick because he’s never actually kicked it
@_OCoyne: “once you reach the ball you cant stop” shouldn’t be hard to understand. You can go run in circles if you like but once you’re there its committed
@tom_murray456: he’s not feinting tho is he, the pitch clearly gives way under his foot
@_OCoyne: Don’t matter if a cow landed on his head, he still stopped once when he reached the ball.
@HuggerV2: I thought the rule included having to kick the ball after stopping
@foreveroufc: i can understand why nuttall is confused, because he goes to take it, kicks the ground, then doesn’t know what to do after that
You must be logged in to post a comment Login