Football: Ipswich praise referee
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ROGER DILKES, the referee who awarded penalties to both Norwich and Ipswich for fouls committed on the edge of a penalty area in which markings had almost been obliterated by heavy rain, yesterday praised the linesmen for their support during Monday night's East Anglian derby at Portman Road.
'I had no doubts about the fouls and my linesmen told me the offences were inside the box. They did a good job. It was good teamwork,' Dilkes said.
Unusually, Dilkes was praised by both sides after Norwich had won 2-1 to inflict a third successive home defeat on their neighbours. John Deehan, the Norwich manager, supported Dilkes's decisions to penalise John Newsome for a 45th-minute challenge on Ian Marshall and Simon Milton for a 52nd-minute foul on Ian Crook.
'To my mind they were simple incidents,' said Deehan, who then criticised the Sky Television coverage of the match.
'In the matches I have seen, Sky try to dissect decisions made by referees, coaches and managers. If we want wingers to sit on the crossbar we will put them there,' he said.
'We would be a lot better off in football if everyone abided by referees' decisions instead of putting them under a microscope. 'Television puts referees under too much pressure. When two players approach each other at 20 miles an hour they have to make split-second decisions. I thought the referee did well and was correct in all his decisions.'
The Ipswich coach, Paul Goddard, agreed. 'The ref gave the penalties so they must have been penalties. That is the end of it.'
Rob Newman put Norwich ahead after 11 minutes with only their second goal in six games this season but 37-year-old John Wark scored a penalty equaliser seconds before half time.
Deehan's team clinched a deserved victory when the defender Carl Bradshaw saw his 52nd-minute penalty kick saved by Craig Forrest only followed up and score his first goal for the club. Both Ian Crook and Mike Sheron, making his full debut since moving from Manchester City, hit the frame of the Ipswich goal.
'We have got to pick ourselves up for the Coca-Cola Cup-tie with Bolton and the league game with Manchester United,' a disappointed Goddard said.
A football rising over part of the globe was unveiled yesterday by Michel Platini as the official logo for the 1998 World Cup finals in France.
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