Hughes left fuming

CLEAR GOAL: Adam Bogdan of Bolton saves a header from Clint Hill that had crossed the line during the Premier League match between Bolton Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers at Reebok Stadium on Saturday

LONDON: QPR manager Mark Hughes hit out at match officials and the FA after his side were denied a valid goal in the 2-1 defeat at Bolton.

Rangers central defender Clint Hill’s first half header clearly crossed the line before it was beaten out by Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

Linesman Bob Pollock kept his flag down and referee Martin Atkinson allowed play to continue.

Then, 18 minutes later, Darren Pratley gave Bolton the lead.

Even before the match had finished, the FA put out a statement supporting the introduction of goal-line technology. That served only to compound Hughes’ anger.

He said: “Of course there should be goal-line technology, but the FA have not come out with that to protect their officials. It’s a joke.

“In fairness to Martin Atkinson, he is a good referee and he has been let down by his assistants. All you ask is that they get the key decisions right and do their job.

“They even got our goal (scored by Djibril Cisse) wrong, which was slightly offside, so they’ve not covered themselves with glory.

“They missed a penalty and the guy on our side (Jake Collin) lost his nerve to make a decision in the end.

“To have that goal chalked off was a key moment for us, scoring first, away from home, and at the wrong end of the table.

“Who knows how costly that might be in the final reckoning? We deserved something from the match. We just want a level playing field. I didn’t go to see the officials after the match because it’s a waste of time talking to them.”

Pollock is no stranger to controversy.

He erroneously ruled out Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal for offside in their 2-1 defeat at Stoke three months ago.

Goal-line technology could be sanctioned by the game’s authorities this summer and Bolton manager Owen Coyle acknowledged that day cannot come soon enough.

He said: “Nobody has been a bigger advocate than myself for goal-line technology.

“We all saw what happened to England in the World Cup and it happened to us with Kevin Davies earlier this season.

“I can understand Mark’s frustration because the first goal can change the course of a match.

“But then their goal was clearly offside.”

Substitute Ivan Klasnic scored the winner for Bolton four minutes from time to lift them out of the bottom three.