Fleetwood Town coach Clint Hill hails fans for role in Peterborough United draw as he took the after-match press conference following boss Joey Barton’s alleged involvement in a tunnel incident at Barnsley

Fleetwood Town first-team coach Clint Hill hailed the fans for their role in the 1-1 draw with Peterborough United as he took the after-match press conference following boss Joey Barton’s alleged involvement in a tunnel incident at Barnsley last Saturday.
Clint Hill and Joey Barton in the dug out against PeterboroughClint Hill and Joey Barton in the dug out against Peterborough
Clint Hill and Joey Barton in the dug out against Peterborough

Chants of “Joey Barton’s red and white army” could be heard after Ash Hunter’s injury-time strike cancelled out Marcus Maddison’s opener as the Cod Army showed their support for Barton and his men.

On Wednesday South Yorkshire Police arrested and bailed a man until next month as they investigate an alleged incident involving Barton and Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel at Oakwell.

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Barnsley striker Cauley Woodrow tweeted last week that Fleetwood manager Barton had allegedly confronted Reds boss Stendel after the game, which the home side won 4-2.

Woodrow, whose tweet was later deleted, claimed the incident left German coach Stendel with "blood pouring from his face".

Barton issued a statement on Thursday denying the allegations and took his pre-match press conference as normal.

The club requested that the media did not ask questions about the incident, stating that Barton could legally say no more than was in his statement handed out before the conference.

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When The Gazette asked if Barton was the man arrested, club staff brought an end to the conference.

Barton was in the dugout for the draw with Peterborough but did not speak to the media afterwards.

When Hill was asked after the game about the incident at Barnsley he said: “No comment.”

The Town coach did speak about the drawn game, in which Alex Cairns saved Maddison’s 20th-minute penalty but the Posh man scored in the 64th minute.

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Fan favourite Hunter’s late, late equaliser sparked jubilant scenes around the ground.

Hill was full of praise for the Cod Army and said: “They were brilliant. They have been brilliant all season to be honest.

“Even through the bits of adversity, they have always been behind us and they certainly helped the lads through to the end. They were fantastic.”

But he did feel Town should have had a penalty of their own after Maddison’s miss, when Lewie Coyle appeared to be tripped by Louis Reed in the first half.

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And Hill was pleased to see the character of the players shine through in a game he said felt like a win.

Speaking of the Posh spot-kick, awarded for a foul by Wes Burns on Maddison, Hill said: “No penalty. I thought we should have had one.

“I thought for their goal we could have done a bit better but overall we came back from a bit of adversity. Overall a lot of positives.

“The game had a bit of everything. I felt we had a penalty shout that I thought should have been given.

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“The response from the lads was fantastic against a very good Peterborough team, who have some very big players and are challenging for the play-offs.

“It felt like a win. The fight we showed to go right to the end with a fantastic finish from Ash Hunter was nice.

“It’s a great point for us. We came back from a losing position in a game which I don’t feel we would have come back from earlier in the season.

“We have come back a couple of times, which shows the character in the team.”