Torquay.v. Barnet

[arcadia]

We played for about ten minute then Barnet sorted out the men from the boys they were more physical and Pearce nor Downes could hack it. They were to slow to cope with their strikers and did not show them who was boss. McDonald came on and showed them how to do it.

Martyn Allen ran the game from the line five minutes before the game and the referee the who had a very bad game got sucked into it.
Whoever sorts the kit out for colour clashes should make sure that the keeper does not have the same colour as the opposition on ever again as this set the trend all afternoon. We spotted this as soon as the players came out. The fourth official was to soft and should have booked Allen for touching the linesman an joking with him whilst the game was going on, with his gamesmanship
trying to get them onside.
Yes Allan is a cheat and his dirty tricks won him the game but when they played Barnet were a good team. I wish we had the same will to win all over the pitch even in the dug out.

It was a sad day all round and I thought Hargreaves should have waited when Bowman got injured making the substitution with Briscoe coming off as I could see from the stand that Bowman was going
to come off.
Ives another outstanding game for a seventeen year old and had more guts than several of his senior players.

[brucie]

Hargreaves was raging over the referee in his after match interview but i told you what would happen. Huxtable is a spineless weasel who would run a mile if confronted by Martin Allen.
Not at all surprised that he ran the game from the touchline.
Was gobsmacked when I saw on my mobile that Barnet had a red card in the first half but would have bet my shirt that a red card would follow for us.
Really with officials like him we might as well not bother to turn up.

[Greybeardedgull]

Which is exactly what you do, you don't turn up.
Yet you are the most opinionated arsehole on this forum and that's going some.

[arcadia]

downes shouldve been taken off after first few mins, breed picked up on his attitude in the first few moves, we've bottled it today completely

Seen it all before he does not like being ruffed up, Pearce was just as bad.

[portugull]

For me this was the worst match of the season. 2 Red Cards and an awful referee plus the Barnet Manager Martin Allen continually going at the officials all made me realise why some of my friends have given up going to Pro Football.

In the first 10 minutes aaron Downes never seemed to get his head on the ball. Very bizarre. Chappelle so nearly scored and then we conceded. Credit to Barnet for a well taken goal but I have to question our defending.

The plus points. In Berry and young Levi Ives we have 2 very good full backs at last. The players want to win but we are just not good enough when it comes to defending. I feel sorry for Chris Hargreaves doing his level best on a shoestring.

Is Ben Harding injured or not? In 2 seasons he has hardly played. Is he fit for selection does anyone know.

Back to the match. The Barnet center back gets a Red Card after Huxtable consulted the lino and we are in with a chance.

Then in the 39th minute Downes having a shocker gets a Red Card "for fighting". BBC description not mine. Now in his 3rd season at Plainmoor how many times has Downes been sent off? I reckon it must be 5 or 6. Certainly twice this season.Akinde rolls home the penalty.

Hargreaves called it "utter madness" and was furious on Radio Devon. I call it "unprofessional".

The second half Barnet spent most of the time content to sit on their 2 goal lead. Great strike at the death from Richards but too late.

Halifax on Tuesday and who does Chris pick? Barnet now 9 points clear. We need to improve and quickly.

[Neal]

Which is exactly what you do, you don't turn up.
Yet you are the most opinionated arsehole on this forum and that's going some.

hahahahaha very funny post

[Sesimbra]

I do get tired of hearing that "Hargreaves is doing his best on a shoestring". Surely most managers of Conference teams, with a couple of exceptions, work on a shoestring. Many have part-time players including Morecambe who are in the play-offs

[Barnet-Fan]

Thought you could use the thoughts of an opposition fan.

Having Christian Pearce on loan for a period in league 2 two seasons ago, i was surprised by his performance today, as he was pretty good for us. His partner, however, that Downes bloke, was incredibly unprofessional. I did a bit of research, and i found out this is his 3rd red card this season. For an experienced 29 year old centre back, this is a piss poor record you have to admit. Although, ill admit that some of those may well have been down to the inevitably poor refereeing, its still bad.

I don't think you lot can have too many complaints today. We deserved to win. Your keeper should have been sent off, and that guy who ruthlessly hacked down our midfielder in the middle of the second half. Weston also hit the crossbar. On the timewasting front, its pretty conveniant you forgot what your keeper did at the Hive? It was pretty similar to today. Seems hippocritcal if you ask me.

Anyway, good luck on this seasons campain. Its pretty difficult to get promotedin the first season, but id 100% prefer you over the Bristol Rovers twats Good game today, do us a favour and beat rovers on new years day! Cheers!

(P.S The ref was from Devon! )

[Sesimbra]

Apologies I meant Macclesfield (NOT Morecambe)

[Tamargull]

I thought the point of a fans' forum is to post your opinion? If not, have I missed something?

[ethantufcbaker]

Huxtable refereed a Torquay game earlier this season j seem to remember him being terrible that day too.
http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/refe ... ee_id=1314

[nickbrod]

For me the referee spoilt the whole game today. He was clearly out of his depth and if there is any justice the assessor will have given him a pretty poor report.
Having said that Downes showed a total lack of professionalism. He's on the transfer list with little chance of coming off it. Here next season? No chance.

[tomogull]

We played for about ten minute then Barnet sorted out the men from the boys they were more physical and Pearce nor Downes could hack it. They were to slow to cope with their strikers and did not show them who was boss. McDonald came on and showed them how to do it.

It was a sad day all round and I thought Hargreaves should have waited when Bowman got injured making the substitution with Briscoe coming off as I could see from the stand that Bowman was going
to come off. Ives another outstanding game for a seventeen year old and had more guts than several of his senior players.

I was looking forward to this match but it was ruined by a 'referee' who must rank amongst one of the worst ever to officiate at Plainmoor. Remember the name - BRETT HUXTABLE. Brucie is absolutely right - he's a total plank. He totally lost control. I wouldn't trust him to ref a South Devon league match. He ref'd a game earlier in the season, Nuneaton I think, and he was just as poor in that game.

Don't wholly agree with Arcadia about Downes. Yes - they were more physical but Akinde was fouling Downes right from the start and getting away with it. I didn't see what happened with the Downes incident - did anyone on here see clearly what happened? If Downes did elbow Akinde, then he got what he deserved. He's a seasoned professional and should have learned by now not to get involved in skirmishes. His disciplinary record is not good.

Huxtable was inconsistent to both teams. Rice's yellow card could well have been a red. It was the linesman's decision that got N'Gaia (spelling?) sent off. I can't comment on Downes because I didn't see it but it was the other linesman who made that decision. Huxtable continued in the second half to make bizarre decisions (against both sides) and then failed to spot an elbow in Pearce's face by Akinde which was clearly seen by everyone on the Pop side. Pearce was not feigning injury because he had a huge bruise above his eye. Credit to Martin Allen for immediately taking Akinde off. Then just to prove how useless he is, Huxtable showed a yellow card to Angus McDonald when it should have been definitely a red when he took out a Barnet player with a horrendous challenge as tempers began to get heated thanks to Mr Huxtable's inconsistencies.

Barnet are nowhere near as good a footballing side as Gateshead or Grimsby but they are well organised and rugged - a typical Martin Allen team. Akinde is the sort of player you hate ..... but we'd love him if he played for us ! If they continue to play like that, they will go up. By the way, that's how to shut up shop when you're winning. Allen obviously decided 2 - 0 was good enough and they hardly got out of their own half in the second half. Not because we were pegging them back, but because they defended with 10 men and we didn't have a hope in hell of breaking them down.

Arcadia is right to mention young Levi Ives. 17 years old and probably the coolest head on the pitch. Arcadia also mentions Briscoe's substitution. Your main striker is on the ground, injured, so you take off your other striker ???? A very strange decision. When we were trying to break them down in the second half, it would have helped to have Briscoe out there.

[A Realist]

Thought you could use the thoughts of an opposition fan.

Having Christian Pearce on loan for a period in league 2 two seasons ago, i was surprised by his performance today, as he was pretty good for us. His partner, however, that Downes bloke, was incredibly unprofessional. I did a bit of research, and i found out this is his 3rd red card this season. For an experienced 29 year old centre back, this is a piss poor record you have to admit. Although, ill admit that some of those may well have been down to the inevitably poor refereeing, its still bad.

I don't think you lot can have too many complaints today. We deserved to win. Your keeper should have been sent off, and that guy who ruthlessly hacked down our midfielder in the middle of the second half. Weston also hit the crossbar. On the timewasting front, its pretty conveniant you forgot what your keeper did at the Hive? It was pretty similar to today. Seems hippocritcal if you ask me.

Anyway, good luck on this seasons campain. Its pretty difficult to get promotedin the first season, but id 100% prefer you over the Bristol Rovers t**ts Good game today, do us a favour and beat rovers on new years day! Cheers!

(P.S The ref was from Devon! )

No he shouldn't a yellow was the correct decision. As was the red for your guy. I didn't get a good view of the McDonald incident (the middle of the second half one you talk about). You're spot on about the time wasting though as Rice did at least the same at the Hive. Two wrongs however.

I dont think the ref was anywhere near as bad as he is getting "credit" for as he got most of the decisions correct that mattered. Barnet were the better team but tbh I cant say I'd pay too much to watch them. Though Akinde is probably the best front man in the division. After the performance at the Hive, I've no idea why Torquay were so poor today though maybe thats credit to your lot for setting the tone of the game. Downes was shockingly poor and Pearce not a great deal better which was a bit of a surprise given that the two of them played (esp Downes) pretty well in the first game.

[goodluckgull]

Huxtable should not be allowed to referee Torquay's games because he is incapable of being impartial. He is influenced by the fact that he is familiar with a group of "Refs" who watch the game on the popside. During the warm up he hung about the halfway line waiting for his "friends" to arrive. He shook hands with them and then spent a long time having some banter in a loud voice ( bragging about international duty). It all appeared to be over familiar and the Barnet fans must have felt it looked a bit suspect. Anyway, all through the game Huxtable kept smirking at these people he knows on the popside, which really wound up the Torquay fans. It seems to me that Huxtable is not capable of being professional at Plainmoor and his judgement is influenced by being from Devon.