Communications equipment issue caused penalty delay
The reason there was a delay in Watford being awarded their 57th-minute penalty yesterday was a problem with the communication equipment used by the match officials.
Referee Geoff Eltringham blew his whistle, but then took an age to signal what he had stopped the game for.
He walked to his official and spoke to him, after clearing a crowd of players away, and then pointed to the spot after Freddie Potts had brought down Kwadwo Baah.
“It was a comms issue – the linesman’s comms had gone down,” explained Tom Cleverley.
“So that’s why there was a delay to giving the penalty.
“I’ve not seen the whole scenario back, and there might be doubts as to whether he’s got the ball or if it’s inside the box.
“What I do feel is that, whether it had been given or not, we would have found a way to win that game.”
Despite the delay and the pressure on his shoulders, Edo Kayembe dispatched the ball into the top corner with supreme confidence.
“It is something that will always impress me in a professional footballer, and that might sound pretty mad,” said Cleverley.
“But it is a part of the game that does change under high pressure.
“Only the really calm players, or top players, or players who are experienced penalty takers can just calm the nerves, put your mind at the training ground or wherever it may be, and hit the ball into the top corner like that.
“I certainly wasn’t one of those!”
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho claimed in his press conference after the game that punches were thrown by Watford players in the melee in the goalmouth immediately after the penalty had been scored.
“I have to be careful what I say, but it seems like he’s very focussed on my team,” Cleverley responded.
“They had a clear game plan of not making it a game of football.
“Part of that may have been to start trying to get reactions out of my players.
“There were points in the game I actually felt sorry for our supporters that had paid money to see this, with the lack of football that was being played.
“The time-wasting, the moaning at the referee, the creating melees.
“But I’m glad our fans got the return for their money at the end of the game.”
