Poppies boss Cox maintains his stance after the bizarre night in Leamington

The Kettering Town boss was left fuming after his players were made to wait for over an hour and a half after a floodlight failure
Kettering Town boss Paul Cox has maintained his stance over the way he felt his players were treated during a half-time interval that lasted over an hour and a half at Leamington on Tuesday. Pictures by Peter ShortKettering Town boss Paul Cox has maintained his stance over the way he felt his players were treated during a half-time interval that lasted over an hour and a half at Leamington on Tuesday. Pictures by Peter Short
Kettering Town boss Paul Cox has maintained his stance over the way he felt his players were treated during a half-time interval that lasted over an hour and a half at Leamington on Tuesday. Pictures by Peter Short

Paul Cox has welcomed the news that the Football Association will be “looking into” incidents that took place during Kettering Town’s bizarre FA Trophy clash at Leamington on Tuesday night.

The Poppies finished the game with eight players as they were deservedly beaten 3-0 by their Vanarama National League North rivals.

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But Cox was left livid by the way his players and staff were treated during a failure of the floodlights at Leamington’s Community Stadium shortly after the half-time whistle.

Poppies goalkeeper Adam Collin talks to referee Adrian Quelch ahead of the second half at Leamington which started just after 10.30pmPoppies goalkeeper Adam Collin talks to referee Adrian Quelch ahead of the second half at Leamington which started just after 10.30pm
Poppies goalkeeper Adam Collin talks to referee Adrian Quelch ahead of the second half at Leamington which started just after 10.30pm

Players and staff from both sides were made to wait in their dressing-rooms during a global pandemic until they were able to warm-up again and begin the second half just after 10.30pm with the game itself not finishing until 11.22pm.

The long wait came after the FA apparently intervened when the match looked set to be abandoned shortly after 9pm.

The BBC reported yesterday (Wednesday) that the FA now intend to look "a number of reported incidents" at the match.

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Cox, as he did on Tuesday night, had no arguments at the outcome of the match itself as his team were well beaten but he has maintained his stance over the way things were dealt with during that near two-hour wait for power to be restored to the lights.

Michael McGrath (right) was sent-off for two quickfire bookings for dissent while Kettering were only trailing 1-0Michael McGrath (right) was sent-off for two quickfire bookings for dissent while Kettering were only trailing 1-0
Michael McGrath (right) was sent-off for two quickfire bookings for dissent while Kettering were only trailing 1-0

Having had nearly 48 hours to reflect on the events, Cox said: “I absolutely welcome the investigation, I really do.

“I haven’t been as annoyed as I was on that night for a long, long time in football.

“When you look at what is happening in the world at the moment and how people were treated on the night, it left a very sour taste in my mouth.

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“I have had 24 to 48 hours to dissect it all now and I have looked at what has been written about it and I am still of the same opinion. I think there were a lot of people let down on the night.

People have a responsibility and a duty of care, especially at the present time.

“We are dealing with human beings and to leave people basically caged up for that amount of time during a pandemic is frustrating at best.

“And that has come after having to sit in their kits for an hour and a half in a dressing-room with no thought towards their health and safety.

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“We are in a pandemic where thousands of people are dying and we got told to go and sit and wait in the dark in a freezing cold dressing room for an hour and more.

“We have got this ‘elite’ tag and I don’t know why we have got it, I don’t know how we have got it. I could go to town over it.

“We are deemed ‘elite’ and if that’s the case then we need to be helped out financially and we need to be brought in line with the Premier League and the EFL in terms of the Covid testing.

“My players are coming from different areas and then they are mixing. On Tuesday, all safety went out of the window.

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“And the next day our players have had to go to work after driving back to their homes in stormy conditions in the early hours of the morning.

“I think it came down to a case of people just wanting to get the game out of the way but there was no thought for the players on both sides.”

The other concerning factor for Cox on Tuesday was the indiscipline shown by his players.

Captain Michael McGrath was sent-off when the Poppies were only trailing 1-0 for two quickfire yellow cards for dissent after an ugly confrontation with referee Adrian Quelch.

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And then, when the second half finally got under way, both Connor Kennedy and Connor Johnson were also red-carded, both for two bookable offences after mis-timed challenges.

Cox offered up a defence for the two players sent-off in the second period but once again reiterated that the club intends to hold a “thorough investigation” about McGrath’s actions.

“(Assistant-manager) John Ramshaw spoke to the referee about the need for a proper warm-up after players had been sitting in the cold for an hour and a half and that was after they’d played for 45 minutes when their muscles would have warmed up,” Cox added.

“In that situation, you are going to get some mis-timed tackles and I think that was just another example of the lack of care for the players.

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“I am not saying that something the referee thought was a foul wasn’t one, I was just after a bit of common sense.

“You had players there who were frustrated, cold, tired and a little bit unsure over what was happening and then you’re asking them to go out there to play a whole second half at 10.30pm. Did that leave scope for some mis-timed tackles? Yes, I think it did.

“With Macca (McGrath), it’s obviously different.

“He’s an excellent player and since Tuesday, I don’t think the false information that he ‘hit’ the referee has helped him or us as a club. We’ve all seen the video and it didn’t happen.

“But what we do know is that he got both yellow cards for verbals. It’s unacceptable.

“And I will reiterate what I said on Tuesday that we will be doing a thorough investigation over it, we will deal with it internally and he will be punished accordingly.”