Harvey head stoppage could have changed game for Grimsby Town – Hurst
Rodgers went down with knock shortly before first goal, but ref allowed game to go on
Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst criticised the referee for allowing play to continue for Wrexham’s opening goal after a head injury as he was left to question what could have been.
First-half headers from Ollie Palmer and Will Boyle put Wrexham two up before Elliot Lee’s second-half strike secured the 3-0 victory for the Dragons. The opening goal came after Grimsby’s Harvey Rodgers went down in the box with a head injury, but rose to his feet after referee David Rock allowed play to continue.
Lee then crossed for Palmer to score, having been played onside by Rodgers, and Hurst took aim at the referee for the call and felt it had a big impact on the game. He said: “The first goal was disappointing because Harvey is not lying, he’s got a head knock, he’s on the floor and ultimately it was Harvey who played them on to be able to score.
“He’s got up and you can see he’s took a knock certainly, he’s not lying, and the referee didn’t stop the game. In the end, that cost us and put us on the back foot, first goals can be important and who knows what would have happened otherwise, but I’m frustrated with that decision certainly because there were a couple of other moments in the game where he’s stopped play when there were injuries that were not head injuries.
“It didn’t feel like it was a 3-0 in general but towards the end clearly confidence was up when they’re bringing the players on of the calibre they have and then it got difficult at that stage.”
The Dragons consolidated their early place in the play-offs with a third successive win, but Wrexham assistant Steve Parkin was most pleased by the clean sheet against a good Grimsby Town side. He said: “It was good because we were playing against a good team and we know that Hursty’s teams are always well organised and they’ve had a good start to the season.”
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