Round-up: Brighton swear Walton was guilty
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Your support makes all the difference.Peter Walton, the experienced Premier League referee and the oldest member of the Select Group, was accused on Saturday of swearing at players while sending off Mauricio Taricco, the Brighton defender and assistant manager, for similar language.
Although Brighton did not deny the strength of Taricco's words, following the contentious award of a penalty in their 3-0 Championship defeat at Southampton, at least one player insisted the language was no worse than Walton's. "It doesn't make sense if you send somebody off for swearing and then you go swearing at players for giving their point of view," said Brighton left-back Marcos Painter.
"Obviously the ref can't send himself off but it's the same situation. I'm not complaining about the ref's language, I just don't understand that if he can send somebody off, how can he use it?"
Walton failed to impress either team. If Brighton were unhappy that Southampton players were going down too easily – Rickie Lambert tumbled to win a second penalty when Inigo Calderon seemed to make no contact with the striker – then the home side also felt that Walton should have awarded more than the two spot-kicks that he did. "I think if we hadn't got those two penalties there were others we deserved so I think it was fair we got two," Lambert said. Enough to make a Saint swear, you might say, or a Seagull – not to mention a referee.
League One Huddersfield Town have set a new Football League unbeaten record, following Saturday's 2-1 win over Notts County. The tally now stands at 43 matches, one clear of the record set by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest 33 years ago but is still six games short of the English record set by Arsenal's "Invincibles" in 2004.
In such esteemed company, manager Lee Clark was understandably delighted. "You to have to celebrate times like these. It is a very proud day for everyone connected with the football club," he said.
Bristol City yesterday extended their own unbeaten run to four games following a crucial 2-1 win over fellow Championship strugglers Millwall. City striker Nicky Maynard added to his growing reputation with two well-taken goals, taking his personal tally for the season to six.
The next invincibles
If Huddersfield Town remain unbeaten, they will beat Arsenal's record on 6 January:
49 games: Arsenal, 2003-04
43: Huddersfield Town, 2011
42: Nottingham Forest, 1977-78
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