SHREWSBURY Town manager Paul Hurst reckoned that key officiating decisions impacted both teams as his side drew with Swindon Town at the County Ground on Saturday afternoon.

The Shrews boss took umbrage with referee Nigel Miller’s decision to show a straight red card to debutant Aristote Nsiala for his challenge on Luke Norris in the area, which resulted in John Goddard putting the hosts in front from the penalty spot – but that wasn’t the only moment Hurt disagreed with.

The Greenhous Meadow chief also reckoned that both sides should have been awarded further spot-kicks, highlighting goalscorer Mat Sadler’s second-half upending of Jermaine Hylton in the Shrewsbury area.

Analysing Nsiala’s dismissal, Hurst said: “For me, he wins the ball.

“They’ve said it’s two-footed. I’ve seen the footage back and 100 per cent, it’s never been two-footed because his other foot’s away to the side.

“For me, he wins the ball. You can see where the ball goes. My thing is whether they say he’s out of control – he doesn’t leave the ground.

“It’s a strong tackle but these days, it seems as though you can’t tackle.

“It felt like an academy game. You’re not allowed to touch anyone.

“I thought it was a man’s game. Maybe I’m living in the past – I don’t know – but I thought a lot of things got punished today for nothing, really.

“As the game went on, I thought we should have had a penalty with Louis Dodds getting his shirt pulled, which no-one seems to even bat an eyelid at.

“Then they should have had a penalty. He (Hylton) kind of almost stopped and Sads has gone into the back of him.

“Hopefully, (by) me saying that, I’m trying to give a fair assessment on all decisions, not just me saying: ‘oh, poor old Shrewsbury’ again.

“But the first one is ultimately the hardest one because we’ve gone a goal down and a man down – who knows how the game would have panned out but it certainly doesn’t help up.”

The Shrews manager added: “In the end, it was like a cup game. Give credit to both teams for trying to win a game of football.

“I thought we had a couple of really good situations where a better ball or a pass instead of a shot might have just got us a win but when you go a man down and a goal down; I’d have taken a point at that stage, that was for sure.”