George Hirst felt referee Andrew Kitchen made the correct decision in awarding Town a stoppage time penalty in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.

Lyndon Dykes was adjudged to have handled the ball when leaping for a header with Jacob Greaves in the fifth minute of stoppage time, allowing Hirst to score from the spot and give Kieran McKenna’s side a last-gasp point.

It looked as though Jay Stansfield’s goal was going to be enough to earn newly-promoted Birmingham all three points in the Championship’s Friday night curtain-raiser before Town had the final say.

While the home supporters were left furious with the decision, Hirst was adamant that the officials made the right call and was delighted to get the opportunity to kick start his season by finding the net.

“Handball is a handball,” he reflected. “If it’s accidental or your arm is in a natural position down by your side then they’re going to be more reluctant to give it, which I think is fair because you can’t get out of the way of everything.

“When Greavesy’s going up for the header and whoever it was [Dykes] whose hand is above their head and it hits him on the hand then it’s probably the right decision.

“I didn’t know what he’d given at the time if I’m being brutally honest but once he told me it was a penalty I was pretty happy about that.

“I’m delighted that it could be me that got the goal that gets the point, but ultimately whether it was somebody else on the day it didn’t matter who it was.

“It was lucky that I got the opportunity to do it. I’m always going to back myself in that situation to put the ball in the back of the net and that’s what I did.”

The upwardly-mobile hosts blitzed their way to the League One title last season with 111 points while Town were relegated from the Premier League with four games to spare.

Competing as equals back in the Championship, both sides are tipped to be among the frontrunners for promotion to the top flight.

Hirst said: “We knew what kind of game we were going to get, with the fans, the way they play and the season they’re coming off. We knew it was going to be incredibly tough and I think it was for the first half.

“Getting in at 0-0, I think we probably had the better chances in the first half. But getting in at 0-0 is not a bad thing and we wanted to kick on from there.

“To come away with a point on the opening day on Friday night here is a pretty tough ask and we did it pretty well.

“Obviously we came here wanting three but it doesn’t always work out like that. Hats off to them because they made it extremely tough for us and teams are going to do that this season. It’s that kind of league where every team can give everyone a game.

“We’ve got a lot of things that we can improve on. The gaffer said before the game that if this is the best performance of our season then something’s probably gone wrong. It’s a place to start and we’re only going to get better from here.

“Watching the clips of Birmingham all week, we knew what kind of team they were. We saw what kind of team they are today, they’re a hell of a side and they made us work for the point.

“They’ll have a good season but ultimately that’s not of interest to me. It’s about what we do as a team and how far we can go with Ipswich.”

Hirst was visibly involved in a tense battle with both of Birmingham’s centre-half, which culminated in a melee following the stoppage time equaliser.

“I love these kind of games,” the 26-year-old said. “For a northern boy like myself, that’s a game I’ve been involved in plenty of times. Coming up from Sunday league you get games like that.

“I love it, it’s a game that we’re ready for if it needs to be that. I know we’ve got a changing room full of lads where no matter who is on that pitch are ready to go and put themselves out there.

“I don’t necessarily do it to wind them up. It’s just a thing in the moment, I do what I feel.

“When you’ve been getting stick for 95 minutes, you don’t mind giving a little bit back when you score the goal that gets us a point.
“It’s part and parcel of football, I’m going to get stick and I’m going to give stick back. It’s fine by me.”

Asked whether he felt the performance could be branded as smash and grab, Hirst said: “Not really. We had a lot of good chances, especially in the first half you had the one with Szmods [Sammie Szmodics], Tayls [Jack Taylor]’s header right before the break and we probably had the better and more clear cut chances.

“Whether that came from a pass or pressing high up or whatever it may be, I think we probably deserved a point. If you spoke to both sets of staff, they’d probably agree somewhat that it was a point that was deserved for both sides.

“I’m sure we will [get many harder games] as teams get to learn what we do and we get to learn about other teams.

“Stakes rise and stuff like that. It’s the first game, it’s always going to be a tough one but it’s good to get it in the legs and come out with a point.”

Photo: Matchday Images

armchaircritic59 added 00:08 - Aug 9 Absolutely right George, if you give it out you can't complain when you get it back. I expect there's going to be a lot of that this season, winning the battle before winning the fight. It's why the Championship is so compelling. Way below Premier League class, but teams scrapping for everything they can get.
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Fatboy added 07:25 - Aug 9 Several players challenged for the ball but only one of them had his hands up above his head. Whether the contact was deliberate or not is irrelevant.
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wischip added 08:51 - Aug 9 There's probably about 6 other teams that will play like that against us in their hostile home atmospheres so we'd better get used to it. It looks to me like we've picked up some dark arts about winning fouls that we had dealt to us last season in the Premiership but we have learnt how to dish it out back in the Championship. George put in a great battling shift up front & took a sweet pressure penalty at the death. Big game player quality from George.

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blueboy1981 added 09:12 - Aug 9 Fatboy - 100% definite penalty, and good refereeing to have the rollocks to give that in the 90th - would have been the easy option to do otherwise !!
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BotesdaleBlue added 09:35 - Aug 9 Thank you George. You kept your cool for that penalty which many others may not have done and saved a point, whilst taking two off them, which will have hurt them. I'm not one who always has to have a favourite player, but I have to say you are most definately mine. A very intelligent footballer with a superb attitude. Just don't get injured please!
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chorltonskylineblue added 09:40 - Aug 9 We had a point blank penalty given against us away at Sunderland in 2020 which won them the game in the 83rd minute. I thought that was a ridiculous penalty at the time, but that's how it goes. You win some, you lose some. Mad red card in that game for Dozzell too. See
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BurleysGloryDays added 09:45 - Aug 9 Well done Hirsty. Takes a big character to do that. That’s what you do!
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poet added 10:46 - Aug 9 Hirst certainly put himself out there. He battled on with little support. Considering that, his performance was outstanding,
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Marinersnose added 11:16 - Aug 9 Tbf the referee had an awful game but he was very decisive in making the penalty decision. Those that suggested it was harsh are from Birmingham as both arms were above his head and the ball definitely struck his hand . These are always likely to be given. Some poor tackles not carded last night.
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Bert added 13:25 - Aug 9 In many games a penalty would not be given but it was. Whilst we were nowhere near our best, after they scored we woke up and put then under pressure. At that point in the game players make mistakes hence the arm where it shouldn’t be. Hirst’s penalty was not great. If he saw the goalkeeper move then yes, well done but had he gone the right way he would have saved it.
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