Dover v Torquay Utd. SAT 7TH APRIL. ko.3PM

[uffculme1]

Did not go to the game today and had to live off the few scraps they put on the united twitter feed. Regardless of the appalling standard of referring in this league, why do we assume that refs in general have it in for Torquay, they do not, its another excuse used by teams that have run out of other excuses and to deflect away from their own failings, every home game I go to I think I have seen the worst ref of the season but time and again another one even worse turns up the following game. You have to put up with it and find ways to play them, not rocket science.

[Dazza]

It's not rocket science to get the majority of decisions correct but the majority of referees I've seen in this league struggle a fair bit to do that. You shouldn't have to know how to play the referee to be successful in this or any other league. That's a very damning statement to make. We are in the bottom for many reasons well beyond the officials but the standard of refereeing has been appalling .

[GullPete]

What are the chances of us actually not getting relegated?

[United62]

Zilch

[Rjc70]

I can't believe what is being suggested on here. That the Conference League officials appoint an official with geographical connections to the two clubs we have to overtake to survive in a vital game. I am sure they check these things out very carefully and spend hours on considering such matters. Surely that can't possibly be right.. why would they possibly do such things? Are you suggesting these people are totally inept.

I was mucking about, Dazza.

[brucie]

That's nonsense - we were not at the game of course but it does appear that we have been on the arse end of some decisions. You could guage by the commentary that Dover were wasting time continuously in the last half an hour. Given that the referee seemed to continually wave cards in the direction of Torquay players you might have think he might have booked a Dover player for wasting time.

If the home commentator says that "contact" was made for the penalty incident then Healey can't possibly be booked for diving. If our player gets sent off for two innocuous yellow cards and then the referee fails to send off a home player who has just been booked and commits a second foul worthy of a booking and the ref does nothing then how can "you put up with it"

That's just nonsense - these are game changing decisions.

[Forest gull]

Not all contact equals a penalty. I don't agree with the penalty or dive argument. could be neither

[desperado]

I see Williams got booked, very surprised he didnt go as well, we could have set some sort of record
all three strikers sent off. You can see from the picture on Devon Live what the referee is like , looks full
of himself , revelling in being the centre of attention, he is loving it.

[nickbrod]

Let's wait and hear what those who went to the game think.
Too many gloom and doom posters.

[Yorkieandy]

Let's wait and hear what those who went to the game think.
Too many gloom and doom posters.

April fools is on the 1st Nick.

You're nearly a week late mate.

[standupsitdown]

Penalty appeal was the other end so we couldn't really see.
There wasn't much between the two sides. The match was decided by refereeing decisions, whether right or wrong. I don't think either of our players should have been sent off.

[merse btpir]

Penalty appeal was the other end so we couldn't really see.
There wasn't much between the two sides. The match was decided by refereeing decisions, whether right or wrong. I don't think either of our players should have been sent off.

Then your view is as muddled as the commentary (from that hard to see from little cabin on the far side) judging by the comments drawn from it and this is how I saw it watching from the back of the stand on the other side as near to halfway as it is possible to sit.......

United simply self destructed in this game against a nervous and poor Dover side in an atmosphere of near silence and balls-aching stop-start all game.

There are several factors unique to playing at the Crabble but a passionate and hostile crowd is not one of them. Mind you years of watching Chris Kinnear's smash it high smash it far has probably induced mass stupefying boredom; the sloping pitch particularly in the 'right back' area when playing the way United started almost defies any player not used to it to watching the ball fly out of play with depressing regularity.

Thus Barnes was the poor bugger suffering that humiliation in the first half and in the second, the fact that Dover smashed every ball from there as far and high as they could gave way to the familiar shit-fest of a Chris Kinnear side..........oh it was dreadful!

But United self destructed; and after kicking off seemingly in second gear Dover could have gone ahead on four occasions before Healy manufactured a collision with Gallifuocco by knocking the ball past him but then deliberately (in my view) going 'hip to hip' with him and executing a swallow dive. Why not go for the shot and why do that? Cheap booking and a chance to take a shot on goal wasted!

The referee is getting terrible stick tonight and whilst he was poor; he was a lot better than several of the players today so to expect the officials to be the star turn at this level is ridiculous in my opinion ~ by and large they are more or less on a par with the playing performances. He did get it awfully wrong with Gallifuocco's wholly excessive challenge on Barnes in the first half which happened right in front of me and almost on the same spot where Durrell Berry came to grief from a similar piece of stupidity from Stefan Payne two years ago. Intimidatory, wreckless and it should have been a red card as the sickening sound of foot on shin guard left the United back writhing on the ground in agony ~ not even a word let alone a freekick. You can always tell which refs (most of them these days) have never played the game and you could see the anger and resentment emanate from the United bench all at once.

Then after the break, Lemonleigh-Evans stupidly threw his hands up at a Gallifuocco overhead attempt and it as nailed on a penalty as you are ever going to see. No argument about that one and how ironic since it came straight after the Woking 'gimmee' in similar circumstances on Monday. Not long after the only real footballer in the Dover side ~ Anthony Charles ~ beat Clarke from well out but saw his shot thud against the foot of the post. Three minutes later and Healey commits Hari-Kari.......when you're on a booking what came from him on the hour was criminal; I distinctly heard Healy warned by the referee that he was clocking up the fouls and he was already on a booking; at the very next opportunity he tests the ref again and leaves his foot in on a defender and he's got to go. I'm sorry; he's got to go!

Go he did and United were in real trouble now as the bad feeling between the benches cranked up and Kuhl started to get really threatening.

Owers tried to counter with the introduction of Efete and Reid for Balatoni and Barnes, and there were more cards for McGinty, Gowling and Williams as tempers frayed. Gowling's could well have been a straight red on another day; he was lucky after he deliberately and cynically 'took one for the team' stepping well to his left to take out the opponent who had beaten him all ends up midway between the halfway line and the penalty area...the forward looked nailed on to go on and shoot.

Time ticking away, and another Galifuocco foul after he had already been yellow carded and then the Dover keeper making a meal of a challenge and the Dover bench making a fuss over United insisting on a properly contested drop ball with Kinnear yet again getting away with leaving his technical area to berate the fourth official and the Torquay bench was too much for the Torquay assistant manager who suggested he go forth and multiply and then clearly said "I'll see you in the tunnel afterwards". Cry baby Kinnear goes to the fourth official again, the ref comes over and Kuhl is walking. I hope he was waiting for the old bastard in the tunnel as promised but just like the schoolteacher he used to be Kinnear stayed out on the pitch at the final whistle and sat his pupils down for a team talk...coward!

90 minutes comes up and United have finally shown the attacking intent they should have shown far earlier but Romain leaves his foot in on Gallifuocco as he cleared using a definite 'stabbing' movement with his foot ~ he's got to go for that and he does. United have self-destructed and have only themselves to blame for this so damaging defeat.

[brucie]

The issue is though that he never got it awfully wrong for Dover only us.

The commentators were saying that Galifuocco should have been sent off for the foul after he was booked and the two bookable offences were no different to those for which Healey was shown the red card.

Hardly much consistency there - especially as you say that the referee should have sent him off in the first half as well. How galling therefore that the same player got the penalty and was the player whom Romain fouled. The referee didn't have much trouble seeing that one though.

Can't stand Kinnear or Dover come to that - pity Kuhl didn't stick one on him.

[merse btpir]

The issue is though that he never got it awfully wrong for Dover only us. The commentators were saying that Galifuocco should have been sent off for the foul after he was booked and the two bookable offences were no different to those for which Healey was shown the red card.

I won't argue with that; but both Healey and Romain deserved to walk ~ as did Gowling and as did Gallifuocco in my opinion so it could have ended 8 against 10.

I don't know who put Balatoni together when he arrived in kit form from Scotland but they must have lost the instructions...I've seen a snowman with a better running action than him.

I'll stand up and say Young had a good game today and was exceptional in the last five minutes; but we created nothing or next to nothing all afternoon in a game we simply had to win. The manager tried all he could and by the final whistle was playing with just two at the back and Gowling up front with Reid and Williams who shat himself every time Manny Smith or Connor Essam went anywhere near him ~ you can't win wars of attrition with an attitude like that.

I thought Clarke played well, Gowling too; but McGinty looked embarrassing far too often with consistently shanking balls and even shinning them into touch. He would fit right into that Dover side and right on his Kent doorstep too.

Davies was simply superb today whilst Barnes did a shift at right wingback. Healey didn't look at all good and neither did Lemonheigh-Evans. I think quick games in succession are too much for some of these young loanees if you ask me, but what alternatives does the manager have with the ridiculous legacy he walked into?

Romain was simply heroic today doing all the running that he does every week and more; and then Williams' running too; I reckon he got the whiff of relegation right on the final whistle and tried to exact some revenge of Gallifuocco. I wish he had got the slimy bastard!

[arcadia]

The team was set up perfectly we could have started with Efete but Bertolini was chosen so be it.
Dover never had a shot all first half so I would say the manager has done a good job .
Second half Dover won a Penalty but the player involved could not get out of the way. I was disappointed that there was not enough effort in trying to put the penalty taker off. I was a keeper and would have done a lot more to put the player off who was taking it.

The referee made several very debatable decisions and they went against us. I agree with Meres about Gowling but when our striker was sent off it was a fifty fifty situation and the referee was losing it.The Romiane sending off was not a clear decision either.
The referee also tried to put things right when their keeper was pretending to be injured he gave a drop ball when everyone thought he was giving a free kick.

The team created three good chances in the last part of the game Young had a shot saved by Walker and Williams had a header saved
it could have been a well deserved draw. The team gave their all and were well worth a draw and I thought were the better side.
In an away game you could not have asked for anymore from the players.

The referee was shocking and made it very disappointing as the players did not deserve to be sent off.
Yes I was at the game.................................................