A tale of two penalties

Last updated : 10 December 2006 By Michael Morris

"People will say this is a poor result but we are still third, said Dave Jones.

"I have maintained from the start of the season that the one thing we couldn't afford was suspensions and we are paying for the one picked up by Stephen McPhail because he is our creative midfield player and losing him along with another creative player like Paul Parry does affect you.

"Because we are not running with the strongest squad then we have to battle and the commitment and endeavour was bang on. We lack quality in key areas but I have to put with that.

"We are having to dog it right now. It's tough for us, we are not playing well but we've got to keep scrapping it out.

"They haven't lost it overnight and they just need to rediscover it.

"It was a tale of two penalties that weren't," Jones continued

"I don't think ours was a penalty and, after seeing it again, I don't believe they should have been awarded one either. Maybe the referee was looking to even things out."


Jim Magilton

We played some great football, created loads of chances and fully deserved a point.

"We had periods of good possession and passed the ball around very well, and I see signs that we are getting there."We started slowly and were a bit scrappy to begin with, but we came out in the second half to equalise fairly quickly.

"Then the referee made a shocking decision to award them a penalty and we had to come from behind once again.

"It was a dubious decision. I have seen them given and not given. The referee gave a freekick at first, but having given the foul, he consulted with his assistant and he said it was in the box, so he had no option but to give a penalty.

"If you offered me a point before the game I would have taken it, given Cardiff's position in the table, but at the end I thought we could have taken all three."