Bees denied after penalty appeal turned down

THE Bees were denied a late penalty in a goalless draw at Shaftesbury Town in the Magna Dorset Premier League.

Entering the game off the back of three successive defeats, including a 6-0 mauling at Wincanton Town in their previous game, Bridport were out to make amends against the Rockies and were desperately unfortunate not to come away with all three points.

Boss Robin Townsend said: “I was away for the Wincanton defeat but from what I have been told discipline was obviously an issue.

“We appear to have a reputation at the moment that we can’t seem to shake but I cannot comment any more on that as I wasn’t there.

“Following that result though, it was clear we had to batten down the hatches and stick together, and that is exactly what we did at Shaftesbury.

“Having taken the previous game, Mark Lock had a big say in choosing the side and in the first 20 minutes we created some good openings.

“They also had a couple of half chances before the game then fizzled out a little bit up to the interval.

“Kicking down the slope in the second half, Shaftesbury then put us under a bit of pressure for five to 10 minutes but we saw it out and eventually went on to finish the stronger side.

“In fact, I thought we did enough to win it in the end. Not only did we create the better chances but with five minutes to go we were also denied a penalty when Jack Scovell was sandwiched by two tackles in the box, neither of which made contact with the ball.

“The linesman immediately put his flag across his chest to signal a penalty but for whatever reason the referee said ‘no’.

“We felt a bit aggrieved about that but unfortunately that is just the way things are going for us at the moment and all we can do now is get on with it.”

Townsend did ask the referee afterwards why he over-ruled his assistant and he was clearly not convinced by the official’s response.

He added: “The referee, who I thought had a good game, said he was in a better position, but he was 50 yards away while the linesman was only 20 yards away.

“I don’t think I have ever come across that before, where an official overrules one of his assistants like that. I thought they were supposed to work together but there is nothing we can do about it now but move on.”

Despite that obvious disappointment there were still plenty of positives the Bees could take from the performance.

Townsend continued: “We are still lacking a bit of firepower in terms of taking chances but overall it was a much better display and the fact we managed to keep a clean sheet was very pleasing indeed.

“I thought Jack and Chris had particularly good games and for Adam Stordy to keep them out, despite not being a regular keeper, was just superb – he was outstanding.”

The Bees, who lie 11th, are back in action on Saturday when they host Holt United (3pm).

Bees: Stordy, Herbst, A Clarke, King, Fleet (Peart 60), C Bulman, Hailu, Scovell, Day (Walken 70), Richardson, McAllister.