Jones: Officials got it wrong over disallowed goal

Luton boss Graeme Jones was bitterly frustrated that his side were denied a clear-cut second goal during their 3-1 defeat at Charlton Athletic this afternoon.

Early in the second half, forward James Collins slid home Harry Cornick’s cross-shot to make it 2-1 to the visitors, only to see the strike ruled out by a linesman’s flag.

The TV evidence has shown that Collins was level with the Addicks defence when Cornick unleashed his effort, making the call even tougher for Jones to swallow, as he then saw the hosts score twice more to claim a crucial 3-1 win.

Jones said: “I’ve got no complaints with the lads, the big moment of the game was our ‘offside’ goal.

“We’ve looked at it and it wasn’t, they’re huge decisions, it was given against little Luton again, which I don’t like, as 2-1 you’re in the ascendancy.

“I’ve got no complaints from the players in terms of effort and having the temperament to play, but the game today, if ever there was a game that swung on a big decision, that was it.

“We’re in a really good moment.

"If we’d have gone 2-1 up, we understand how to control football matches, and we’d have probably fallen back into a pattern like we had at Middlesbrough last week, where we controlled the game off and on the ball.

“I would have been very confident at 2-1, as we hauled ourselves back in the game, the first two goals for them are two mistakes for us and the game swings on one moment.

“We’ve scored two goals from open play today and they’re legitimate.

“Call it luck or judgement, or whatever you want, they need to go your way, but everybody needs to take responsibility.

“I’ve known Andre (Marriner, the referee) for years and the linesmen, they’re Premier League officials, my disappointment is they've got a huge decision wrong.”

Having watched it back after the contest, Jones, who was without Izzy Brown, Kazenga LuaLua, Sonny Bradley and James Shea for the match, continued: “The footage I've looked at it he’s onside when it leaves Harry’s foot, he's behind the defender, and the ball’s in the back of the net, so I can't do a lot about that.

“What I can do a lot about is patterns of play, attitude, performance, having that mentality, to come into their back yard, coping with the occasion, I thought we were fantastic.

“We played some good stuff, we’re starting to get a real consistency performances and a look about us which satisfies me.

“We lost three players before the game, which again is another variable that has been difficult, so I've got no complaints.

“It’s two silly mistakes for the first two goals, but even then we should have been 2-1 in the lead.

“The pivotal moment is our goal, we’ve done nothing wrong, we've done nothing wrong in the game, that goal changes the dynamics.”

When asked whether he felt Collins needed to touch Cornick’s shot in the first place, Jones said: “For me, it might have hit the post, it was either going in or hitting the post, but James is a striker, he’s a predator.

“He works for that every day in training, that’s not the point, he was onside.”

Attacker Cornick was also left highly disgruntled that the goal for his team-mate was rubbed out, saying: “I'm going to say it was post and going out, he's always there to tap them in.

“That’s what he does regularly for the team, hes always there to score those goals, if that goes in, and that counts, we could go on to win the game.

“So it’s just unfortunate really and I’m just gutted for him as another goal would be nice.

“I haven't seen it back, linesmen make mistakes, sometimes they go for you and sometimes they don’t.

“We didn't get the rub of the green today with the officiating, sometimes we’ll get that, sometimes we won't, so I can't really comment too much on that.”

Collins was then involved at the other end for the second Charlton goal which did count, handling George Lapslie’s drive, allowing Lyle Taylor to double his tally from the spot.

Jones added: “It’s a penalty, James has held his hands up after the game.

“James Collins is such an aggressive, big heart, want to win for the team type of player, maybe it just slipped over a little bit, a little bit too anxious to get out there..

“Obviously you've got to keep your hands down, he’s a striker helping out, so that’s the only disappointment really in that.

"But we should have been 2-1 up and it's a very, very different situation.”