FAN ZONE
TUST's Chair, Nick Brodrick's column in this week's Herald Express - updated for the latest news.
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TUST’S COMMUNITY SHARE ISSUE CLOSES ON £222,000 - AMAZING
IT WAS BLOOD PRESSURE TIME AFTER AN EVENTFUL SATURDAY AT PLAINMOOR
FA CUP PROGRESS FOR UNITED WOMEN AND SUCCESS IN DEVON BOWL
What amazing fans we have as TUST’s Community Share Issue closed at midnight on Friday with a staggering £205,501 invested. Add in £16,500 from offline sums and the total raised is a whopping £222,201. We thank everyone for supporting our wonderful football club.
How’s your blood pressure this morning? Outside the front of a newly repainted Plainmoor, thanks to O’Neill & Holman who have spruced up the length of the front of the Family Stand, was a specially erected British Heart Foundation gazebo offering free blood pressure tests.
Whilst a great idea - and taken up by many before entering the ground - there more than likely would have been a huge queue after the game headed by manager Paul Wotton had it still been there.
What an afternoon it turned out to be. United, still smarting from last week’s humiliating FA Cup exit, wanting to prove a point (well, three actually) against winless and bottom side St Albans.
What could possibly go wrong?
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Step forward match referee, Sam Reed, who turned into the worst official seen at Plainmoor for a long time and that’s not saying we haven’t had some shocking performances in the past. Don’t mention Ashton Gate (I think I got away with that).
Being a referee is a thankless task and without them there would be no fixtures but Mr Reed surpassed himself with a less than competent display.
He missed a blatant hand ball in the first half which should have been a penalty and then waved play on after Omar Mussa was felled in time added on. Mussa was clearly in a bad way from the loud cry of pain as he went down, heard clearly in the Family Stand.
And add in the foul on Cody Cooke which led directly to the visitors equalising and you have a catalogue of questionable decision making.
However, according to those close by, the match assessor claimed the ref had had a good game, try telling that to the manager. He did use his red card to send off Zane Banton for his elbow on Ed Palmer who has an orbital fracture.
But the worst aspect of Mr Reed’s performance was his reaction to two incidents. Incident one was due to a gentleman in the Family Stand crashing flat on his forehead by a gap in the perimeter wall to the left of the visitors’ goal. Keeper Michael Johnson claimed he was distracted by the appearance of a number of emergency workers so got the ref to stop the match.
Then not long after came the Mussa incident in almost the same area, albeit the prone Torquay player being on the pitch side of the retaining wall but Mr Reed showed no concern.
Yes, Mussa was off the pitch but clearly in distress and eventually being carried off on a stretcher after the final whistle. But don’t the officials have a duty of care?
As far as the game is concerned it wasn’t a great spectacle and St Albans, as Wotton had predicted, who were in a false position in the league, could well have nicked it on chances. Still, United sit in a play-off position, Ben Seymour has got a goal and there’s a long way to go in the season.
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The one thing which strikes you once inside Plainmoor is not just how Paint Up Plainmoor has transformed the ground but the fantastic quality of the pitch thanks to Julian the groundsman.
And just listen to St Albans manager David Noble’s view, ‘Everybody is going to love coming here….best pitch, teams are going to love playing here, lovely stadium, lovely fans passionate about their football club’.
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United’s Women are through to the 2nd Round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup after a scare, coming from behind 2-1 to take the tie with a 5-2 victory thanks to a hat-trick from Tee Kaptein and one apiece from Katie McKane and Emily Elliott.
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Non-League Crowd Watch: Oldham 5,411, Hartlepool 3,507, Torquay 3,287, Sutton 3,131, Dulwich Hamlet 2,919, Wealdstone 2,590, Aldershot 2,567, Hereford 2,491, Scarborough 2,455.
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Amongst National Premier sides there are mixed opinions about the newly created National League Cup Competition where 16 NL teams are pitted against 16 Premier League U-21s. Matches start next month with the final in April next year. But not all NL clubs are in favour of this and the following opted out of competing: Barnet, York City, Solihull Moors, AFC Fylde, Southend Utd and Eastleigh who had these reasons: no financial reward, likely to be small attendances, need for a bigger squad so not cost effective but most tellingly is the accusation that the National League did not consult clubs before making the decision in the same way they were not involved in the removal of FA Cup replays.
Maybe the introduction of an independent regulator will help avoid situations like this.
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Currently United have no game time until Saturday October 5th’s visit to Hampton.
However, on Tuesday evening a United side went through to the next round of the St Luke’s Devon Bowl after a tense 6-5 penalty shoot-out win over Buckland Athletic following a 2-2 draw in normal time.
If you want me to pass on your comments to the club board email me: fanszone.tu@gmail.com.
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