DeMerit spooked by Reading ghost-goal

Watford's American skipper Jay DeMerit has spoken of his shock at the phantom goal awarded to Reading at Vicarage Road yesterday, which has been the talk of England's Championship.

Twelve minutes into their 2-2 clash, 25-year old referee Stuart Atwell stunned the entire stadium by awarding Reading a goal, on his linesman's advice, when the Hornets' John Eustace had clearly put the ball out of play wide of the woodwork.

"I've never seen anything like it," DeMerit told NoShortCorners of the Royals' bizarre opener.

"It was unbelievable. The ball came into the box and then squirted out of play about three feet wide of the post! We were all setting up for a goal kick, as were Reading, when the referee signaled 'goal'!"

TV replays confirmed no score had been registered by the fans or any of the players, who were running back upfield expecting a goal kick.

"It never even came close to the net," DeMerit continued. "That is the most confusing part. And also the Reading player went and kicked it back into play. If they had scored, why would one of their players stretch to kick the ball out of the goal?"

Today, the Professional Game Match Officials Board confirmed assistant referee Nigel Bannister had signalled a goal to Atwell in error.

"It appears a mistake has been made," PGMOB's Paul Rejer announced.

The US center-back remains aghast at the decision, however, with as yet no prospect of the goal being erased nor Watford awarded the three points they merited.

"His depth-perception was way out," DeMerit chuckled, recalling the linesman's calamitous mistake.

"The referee did not see it either, which I could not understand. As soon as he signaled it was a goal, I was in his face asking him why. He said he didn’t see it so had relied on his linesman for his final decision. It is hard to keep your head when those types of things happen."

Watford fought back to put two goals past Marcus Hahnemann, before an 87th minute penalty gave Reading, who had Bobby Convey on the bench, an undeserved point.

"It was so frustrating as we were trying to chase the game when we shouldn’t have been," said DeMerit. "We are in a bit of a crisis right now with all our injuries and some diabolical calls."

The Hornets, in 17th, host West Ham in the League Cup on Tuesday, while Reading, sixth visit Stoke.

-Sean O'Conor