Another ref, another dodgy decision as Clarke red card follows softest of penalties (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Another ref, another dodgy decision as Clarke red card follows softest of penalties

7:00am Tuesday 29th December 2009 in

By Simon Parker »

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City 1, Shrewsbury 3

Trust the smallest man on the pitch to have the biggest impact – and no surprises that it should be referee Peter Quinn stealing centre stage.

Once again it was familiar territory for City; a third home loss on the spin and the man in black cast as the chief villain.

The not-so-mighty Quinn made an indelible mark on proceedings with a one-two just before half-time, giving Shrewsbury the softest of penalties and then dismissing Matt Clarke straight afterwards.

It left Stuart McCall to curse another awful official for the umpteenth time and City trying to pick up the pieces from their fifth defeat at Valley Parade.

It was also scant reward for the 100 or so fans who had worked so hard to get the game on in the first place.

Without their enthusiastic early-morning efforts to clear the snow from the pitch and around the ground, City would have been facing a third successive bout of thumb-twiddling. In hindsight, that would not have been a bad thing.

This was hardly a battle of the form teams. City went into it without a victory in five at home and Shrewsbury had won just twice in 15 anywhere.

City had not tasted Valley Parade victory for over two months, a poor run that was dragging them down despite a decent record on the road.

With back-to-back home games this week, it was imperative that they finally started to make the big-crowd advantage count – and for a good while it looked like that might happen.

City certainly came charging out the blocks, winning five corners in the opening ten minutes. Scott Neilson had a shot deflected behind and Gareth Evans volleyed over.

Simon Whaley almost delivered a sensational opening goal after seven minutes. His 30-yard thunderbolt clipped off a Shrewsbury leg and bounced against the bar with keeper David Button completely beaten.

The fast start continued as Michael Flynn threaded a lovely ball through for Evans but his finish was weak, while only striker Dave Hibbert’s outstretched leg prevented James Hanson’s diving header finding the bottom corner.

A goal surely had to come and it did in the 11th minute – but at the other end. Shrewsbury had hardly crossed the halfway line when Terry Dunfield stunned City with a crisp 25-yard half-volley that flew beyond Simon Eastwood.

It was a total sucker punch, given City’s dominance, but they emerged from a brief daze to grab an equaliser ten minutes later.

Zesh Rehman’s thumping clearing header released Evans, who drove deep into the Shrewsbury box, held off Kelvin Langmead’s challenge and intelligently squared for Hanson to knock home.

With an eighth goal of the season to his name, Hanson immediately went hunting another and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff atoned for a mistake in the Shrewsbury box with a desperate block from the big striker’s close-range shot.

The pitch was holding up fairly well, considering the recent weather. The covers had ensured the surface remained soft despite the heavy frosts.

City were trying to knock the ball around, with Whaley a more prominent figure after a few flat performances.

But City fell behind again a minute before the break after Clarke was adjudged to have nudged Steve Leslie. The Shrewsbury striker went down like a sack of spuds, considering the minimal contact, but referee Quinn whistled immediately and booked the centre half.

It was a very soft penalty to concede and Kevin McIntyre compounded City’s agony by sending Simon Eastwood the wrong way from the spot.

Things got even worse for City – and Clarke – within seconds after he ran into Hibbert chasing the ball out of play. Quinn ruled it another foul and judged Clarke to be last man, sending him off.

Clarke could not believe it and McCall was incandescent with rage on the touchline. He flew straight across to the diminutive referee as half-time sounded and angrily wagged a finger in his face.

Once again City were faced with playing the whole second half with a man down. Steve Williams was brought on to plug the defensive gap as Neilson made way.

Feelings were still running high among the fans when the game restarted and Quinn was booed incessantly.

Williams soon needed running repairs to his right hand, which left City briefly down to nine men before he was strapped up to continue.

City were pushing for an equaliser and Luke O’Brien was getting further and further forward on the left flank. The corner tally reached double figures but Lee Bullock’s header from Whaley’s kick flew straight at Button.

Bullock went much closer when he chested down a loose ball and drove it just the wrong side of the post. Then Whaley skidded an awkward effort which Button did well to push clear.

The referee continued to win no friends with the crowd when he decided not to book Dean Holden for halting O’Brien’s overlap with a tug of the full back’s shirt.

Omar Daley came on to a big roar in the 69th minute, replacing Whaley, who had produced his best City home performance. The substitute was tested straight away by a crunching tackle from Neal.

Eastwood fell awkwardly after a challenge with Hibbert for a clearance from his opposite number Button.

The pitch was cutting up badly, making it an even tougher task for City to claw their way back, and it became impossible 11 minutes from time when Shrewsbury added a third goal.

Eastwood made a good save from Neal but Hibbert was following up to kill off City for good.

Rehman got caught in possession inside his own area and Dunfield went down as he tried to retrieve the loose ball but this time the referee and assistant were unmoved.

It was petering out for City but there was one late positive. Daley produced a great run at the end, wiggling his way through four Shrewsbury players into a shooting position before Holden’s deflection diverted his effort behind the goal.

There was just time for one last boo at Quinn on the final whistle. Attendance: 11,522

Comments(13)

bradford321 says...
9:06am Tue 29 Dec 09

On the radio interview after the game SM said 'he didn't know what else to say to the team' at the end of the match - THATS BECAUSE HE HAS RUN OUT OF IDEAS! (sorry Stuart you will always be a legend for what you did for the club on the field, but its time for something fresh)

I'm tried of all the moaning (even if the decisions are blatently wrong) - you make your own luck in life!

If we had players who knew where the back of the net is then after the 1st 20 mins the sending off wouldn't have mattered.
The fact is we are not good enough.

The only reason why the mnmgt team will still be in place at the end of the season is because the club does not have the money to pay them out of their contracts.