TUFC v Eastleigh Monday 18th April 3pm KO.

[thebigp1]

Poor game today. Lacked any intensity in the first half and atmosphere around the ground felt flat. Picked up slightly in the second half but was too late. Although play offs were a long shot we have no chance now.

The ref really was awful though and didn’t help the game. Couldn’t understand why he kept stopping it when their players were ‘injured’. It played into Eastleigh’s hands and made the game a poor spectacle. I don’t really understand their approach though as they were dangerous going forward and could have won it themselves if they didn’t waste so much time.

[DevonBee]

Can accept the result, the referee was an absolute joke....I have never seen so many drop balls in 50 years of watching football !!!!
Thank goodness we have a team who attempt to play football.....Imagine watching the shambles of Eastleigh every week ! They are where they are in the table for a reason, shame they ain't in the bottom 3.

[standupsitdown]

Poor game today. Lacked any intensity in the first half and atmosphere around the ground felt flat. Picked up slightly in the second half but was too late. Although play offs were a long shot we have no chance now.

The ref really was awful though and didn’t help the game. Couldn’t understand why he kept stopping it when their players were ‘injured’. It played into Eastleigh’s hands and made the game a poor spectacle. I don’t really understand their approach though as they were dangerous going forward and could have won it themselves if they didn’t waste so much time.

I suppose they would look at it that they nearly did win it at the end when we were pushing forward. And that one point helps keep them well clear of the bottom three.
But they shouldn't have been allowed to get away with cheating. Referees should only sop the game for head injuries or something obviously serious. Not for a goalkeeper who apparently gets injured picking up the ball.

[thebigp1]

I suppose in a way it’s a compliment to our recent form they felt they had to play that way against us. The problem with the ref was he did nothing to stop it and actually encouraged them to do it more. I think the worst moment for me is when one of their players went down faking injury, they actually had possession and he still stopped the game! The longer it was 0-0 the worse it got. Had we started with a real intensity like the Notts game could have been a different story.

[North Curry House]

Halstead allowed home for Easter, unbelieveable. I wish my Boss gave me Easter off.

[North Curry House]

Quite agree with most of your post but I have seen plenty of worse performances although never a referee so incompetent.

I did not mean it was our worse game but horrible to watch, due to Eastleighs tatics and a referee who was completely lost. Very frustrating to watch and for our players as well.

[Gull in black]

Very disappointing result today. I think we suffered due to a lack of strength in our squad, we certainly missed Wearne and it will be a shame if it's the last we see of him this season.
Referee was very poor but he wasn’t responsible for us not scoring. He didn’t deal with the antics of the Eastleigh players and actually added to their time wasting efforts. Based on that performance he should not be refereeing on this (poor) league.

[portugull]

Well thank goodness we only play Eastleigh once a year at Plainmoor. This apology for a Football team faked injury, faked fouls, wasted time and made the Referee look a complete fool time and time again.

I wonder what a Top Referee would have done with this bunch of so called professional footballers. You can see why they have lost 14 of their 20 away games but today they got lucky because the Referee was totally incompetent.Devon Bee makes a good point how many times did we see a dropped ball to restart the game. I lost count.

Stephen Duke- McKenna was my MOTM and in the second half his control and trickery should have won the game but we ball watched instead of getting in the right position to bury one of his many crosses into the danger area.

I was so frustrated by the Officials today. Something has to be done by the Football Authorities about the Standard of Referees and I for one would support a clock like in Boxing so that teams know that if time is wasted it will be added on so sometimes there will be an extra 20 minutes if 20 minutes was taken up by injuries, time wasting and plain cheating.

The time keeper would also time goal kicks. If we the supporters only see 65 minutes of actual play we are being cheated as we are the people who keep the game alive.

I shall be writing to the FA but I do feel if all 3,644 wrote to them they might get the message. Enough is enough we need the Clock!!!!

[happytorq]

I shall be writing to the FA but I do feel if all 3,644 wrote to them they might get the message. Enough is enough we need the Clock!!!!

Don't disagree with you but an actual clock (that sstops when the ball goes out of play) would, I suspect, reveal that of the 90 minutes, only 65-70 minutes are actually played. This would then mean that the games would end up being longer, taking games out of the 2 hour window (incl. half time and stoppages) that it's at now. that 2 hours is magic for broadcasters. As we all know that's where the real power is, no managing body (the FA, Fifa...hell, even the NL) has any interest in opening that particular curtain.

[DeePeeWales]

My first ever trip to Plainmoor, having moved down here last year, took two of my sons.

Thought it was a turgid affair, both sides cancelled each other out. Their defender Broadbent had a good game and snuffed out any threat from DW. SDM also had a good game but so did their winger Harper. Armani Little has really improved since he was released by my hometown club Oxford and most of his free kicks threatened: the problem was Eastleigh were good in the air at the back and it would’ve taken Peter Crouch to beat them. The game just needed someone fast and tricky to run at the defence. I thought both keepers stayed alert and made important saves despite having little to do for 85mins.

The officials - two of them were shocking and their interpretation of good teamwork between themselves was not undermining each others’ poor decisions. The ref was conned throughout the game and was barely in control. And I say this as a qualified South Devon ref myself. I would’ve backed myself to do better than both of them. Thought the assistant on the Bristow stand side did well though.

The welcome at the club for a newbie like me was good, nice atmosphere in Boots & Laces, and good vocal support from you guys despite the dross being served up on the pitch. I expect I’ll be back when I’m free, my next game can’t be any worse than this from an entertainment perspective can it?

[culmstockgull]

I agree with your sentiments Portogull, Rugby Union are years ahead in referring terms, as soon as their is any form of injury its time off, if teams knew this was going to be the situation they would not have this method of stopping the game in their locker.

[Modgull]

What an omni-shambles that referee was! Shockingly incompetent. Allowed Eastleigh to wrestle Wright out of the game (but to his credit eventually managed to gain some parity later on), turned a blind eye to leading elbows and cynical kicks at our players and failed to address their blatant time wasting. Thought it said it all when he actually gave a hand up to one of their players with a broad smile on his face - no doubt he will get a great report from the opposition even if, as Gary implied, he will get a shocker from us.

Thought we weren't up for it today. Unlike against NC we seemed to back off in the face of their robustness and lacked tempo. I guess two games in three days was too much for our older players and we missed Lapslie who, I am sure, would have gone toe to toe with their entire midfield had he been fit.

One or two of our players had very poor games - O'Connell and Wynter in particular - and CLE cut a frustrated figure running down blind alleys. The Duke was our best player by a margin with Little put on the back foot by his (totally soft) booking. Thank goodness McDonald remained alert to prevent a complete hand-bagging in the last quarter.

[Plainmoor78]

Halstead allowed home for Easter, unbelieveable. I wish my Boss gave me Easter off.

His wife was having a baby.

[North Curry House]

His wife was having a baby.

I only heard he was allowed home, was not told the reason. Thank you for the explanation.

[oldpedant]

Don't disagree with you but an actual clock (that sstops when the ball goes out of play) would, I suspect, reveal that of the 90 minutes, only 65-70 minutes are actually played. This would then mean that the games would end up being longer, taking games out of the 2 hour window (incl. half time and stoppages) that it's at now. that 2 hours is magic for broadcasters. As we all know that's where the real power is, no managing body (the FA, Fifa...hell, even the NL) has any interest in opening that particular curtain.

I think more people are beginning to think the same way ..

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/18205749 ... ugal-fifa/