On the box - Rovers v Oxford

[Kenneth E End]

Kemar Roofe is some player.

 

[EricSabin]

Roofe off injured and Sercombe banned. Just in time for next week. Lovely.

 

[E10rifle]

Wonderful goal from Roofe. He's a real talent.

Hilariously poor decision for the red card - absolutely no intent whatsoever.

Oxford have started diving and timewasting. Smart.

 

[oakroader]

 

[Gassy]

They are the games that make you feel sick. Deserved at least a point and the ref did everything he could do to ensure Oxford walked away with 3 points. No complaints about the goal though, that was world class.

Feel like I'm going to say this week in week out, but we need to take our chances

 

[eric read]

Possibly our most unconvincing performance of the season. But a wins a win, as they say.

Rovers got in our faces, and pressed us early, which is the best way to play us. Thought the Rovers red card was harsh, but the ref was looking to even it up after that, and we played into his hands. Sometimes you have to grind a result out if you're going to win something, and I think we did just that, not pretty to watch today, but three points better off and time to re group.

Oh, and Roofe is quality. He doesn't score tap ins!

 

[E10rifle]

Oxford just had that little bit of extra quality at the top end of the pitch. Makes all the difference in these close games. Rovers huffed and puffed without ever really looking threatening. I'm sure Chris Lines will do his usual one-eyed trick and come out in the press saying that Rovers are as good a side, man for man, as Oxford. But he'll be lying to himself. Again.

 

[JoshBCFC]

Superb moment of indiviual quality won it really. Rovers completely bossed Oxford: but didn't take their chacnes! Every shot on target they had went straight at Sam Slocombe!

 

[oakroader]

how's his mums pussy??

 

[TheGas]

Said this from the start. We are one good striker away from top 7 easily. Not even gonna moan about the ref no one expects every decision to go their way we just want them to be concistent

 

[Bristols_finest]

How we didnt get at least a point is beyond me! Was a stone wall penalty at the end to. Great winner scored by the young oxford lad. Red card after 15 mins ruined the game as we could not play the system which has been serving us so well!

 

[Gashead]

Didn't take our chances really, although its frustrating to see certain decisions go against us. Excellent finish from Roofe, looking back at the replay there isn't much that could have been done about it.

This made me laugh

https://twitter.com/munnzy_/status/640515445284450304

Not great at embedding tweets...

 

[Bristols_finest]

Haha how the referee says "he got the ball" absolute shocking refereeing today.

 

[Viv Aldi]

Referee was atrocious for both sides today.. Sending off was harsh. Foul given against Hylton for an air kick was wrong and he should have been through on goal. Rovers should have had a penalty. He didn't let the game flow in any way. Awful

Happy Oxford won mind

 

[eric read]

The poor decisions went both ways.

Don't forget early on we had a perfectly good goal ruled out ( when Roofe put it in after Hylton was penalised for nothing) and then second half when Hylton again was clean through and the ref blows for god knows what?

It's an odd one, because although we've won, I feel slightly disappointed with the performance and the missed opportunity to show the watching public what a good side we can be.

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

Said this from the start. We are one good striker away from top 7 easily. Not even gonna moan about the ref no one expects every decision to go their way we just want them to be concistent

You looked more than a good striker away from the top 7. You had no creativity in your side at all.

 

[Bristols_finest]

Were solid tho. Teams will struggle to beat us.

 

[Gashead]

You looked more than a good striker away from the top 7. You had no creativity in your side at all.

Not sure about that, we had plenty of chances today and didn't take them. One of our more creative midfielders was sent off after 15 minutes too, total change required which is frustrating two home games in a row. Lots of creativity comes from the wing-backs, but unfortunately we had to shift to 4-4-2 (or 4-3-2, with no wingers at the time).

I think on our day (the wins against Barnet and Luton performance-wise were much better) you can make a case for us not being too far away from a top 7 side, after all some less-than-perfect teams have done it in the past. Too many off days like today and the Northampton game won't see us get close though.

 

[Sergei from IT]

14 league matches unbeaten.
And Kemar Roofe's goal was good enough to win any match. What a player.

 

[GasAttacK]

Haven't seen a replay of the sending off but it looked extremely harsh. Don't even think Oxford were looking for a red. The ref didn't give himself time to think about it and pulled out a red almost before the player hit the floor. Not even sure it deserved a yellow.

We still had the better of the game despite being a man down for most of it, more possession (54/46), twice as many shots (14/7) and more than double the corners (10/4). Chapman didn't have anything to do except pick that stunning goal by Roofe out the net.

Frustrating, and the penalty decision near the end summed up the ref's afternoon. You wont see a more blatant penalty this season.

On the plus side it was a good effort from the lads, especially as we played nearly the entire match with 10 men and if we continue to play like that I think we'll do okay.

 

[ComeOnIrene]

Absolutely robbed. Can't believe we haven't taken more than a point from the game.

Take nothing away from Roofe's finish as it was a great strike, but it was near enough Oxford's only effort on target. We had several chances but unfortunately they all fell for centre half Tom Parkes, who is by no means a natural in front of goal.

Holloway got it spot on in his post match summary; the ref was so bad it's unreal. How he decided Clarke should be sent off but their lad shouldn't for exactly the same offence is a joke. Bodin was definitely fouled in the box too, but he was never going to give anything our way if he could help it. Hylton could have been sent off twice for the totting up procedure alone, but again the ref bottled it.

We have to learn from this though. We were nowhere near clinical enough against a side who put every man behind the ball, even when they had 11 men on the pitch to our 10, and we are always at risk of losing while this is the case. Oxford were organised and although they had little else, they did have an absolute diamond of a player in the shape of Kemar Roofe. Without him they don't win today - and I'm sure they would have dropped points elsewhere as well given the number of goals he has scored for them. Keep hold of him U's, you need him.

We can take heart from how we still bossed most of the game despite being a man down for so long. Hopefully we can get a player or two on loan to give us some added impetus up top, because that is all we lack at the moment.

 

[Viv Aldi]

Absolutely robbed. Can't believe we haven't taken more than a point from the game.

Take nothing away from Roofe's finish as it was a great strike, but it was near enough Oxford's only effort on target. We had several chances but unfortunately they all fell for centre half Tom Parkes, who is by no means a natural in front of goal.

Holloway got it spot on in his post match summary; the ref was so bad it's unreal. How he decided Clarke should be sent off but their lad shouldn't for exactly the same offence is a joke. Bodin was definitely fouled in the box too, but he was never going to give anything our way if he could help it. Hylton could have been sent off twice for the totting up procedure alone, but again the ref bottled it.

We have to learn from this though. We were nowhere near clinical enough against a side who put every man behind the ball, even when they had 11 men on the pitch to our 10, and we are always at risk of losing while this is the case. Oxford were organised and although they had little else, they did have an absolute diamond of a player in the shape of Kemar Roofe. Without him they don't win today - and I'm sure they would have dropped points elsewhere as well given the number of goals he has scored for them. Keep hold of him U's, you need him.

We can take heart from how we still bossed most of the game despite being a man down for so long. Hopefully we can get a player or two on loan to give us some added impetus up top, because that is all we lack at the moment.

What about the free kick given against Hylton for nothing when he was clean through on goal, and the very soft free kick given against Hylton when Roofe slotted in?

Ref was absolutely shite. Surely he can be nowhere near a league two fixture again?

 

[Murphy]

Reassuring to know that referees aren't just toss in our games. Linington seems to have form for it mind, Cheltenham fans hate him for whatever reason. He's starting to become synonymous on Kettle/Deadman levels. Absolute bang to rights penalty at the end it should have been for Rovers - didn't see the sendings off so can't comment on them.

Cracking finish by Roofe as well.

 

[ComeOnIrene]

What about the free kick given against Hylton for nothing when he was clean through on goal, and the very soft free kick given against Hylton when Roofe slotted in?

Ref was absolutely shite. Surely he can be nowhere near a league two fixture again?

I honestly can't recall those incidents, but if they were as bad as you imply then you would certainly hope the ref would be nowhere near a league fixture next weekend. In front of the cameras he has made himself look a complete t*t.

I mean how he didn't give a penalty to us at the end is an absolute disgrace. As Murphy says, it's so clear cut it's unreal.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

You wont see a more blatant penalty this season.

I've got you there.

 

[eric read]

This reminds me of an ongoing "discussion" I have with a German colleague about the 1966 World Cup Final goal that (he says) shouldn't have counted. OK, rule it out, we win 3-2, is my reply.

Let's give you the penalty, but let's also give us the Roofe goal that was ruled out and the Hylton one-on-one (and he doesn't miss those). We win 3-1. It's a futile argument, but the point is that the referee penalised both sides incorrectly, but fans only remember the ones where their side is on the receiving end.

As for the red card, I really don't believe it was a red, but the moment he gave it he then did his best to even things up. The foul count committed by us is only so high because the referee decided they were fouls, when many of them (in my opinion) weren't. He dished out yellows to us while letting other things go. He evened it up.

I'm not complaining, but I don't buy this "we was robbed" line from Rovers fans. We didn't play particularly well, but we did a number on you, and got the points. You weren't robbed, you lost a game one nil that you might have drawn, or you might have lost 3-1. Get over it, and win the next one, that's what successful sides do.

 

[martinox]

Don't think there is any doubt that the sending-off decision was wrong as was the ref's failure to give Rovers a penalty. However, as others have said we had a goal disallowed wrongly and Hylton would probably have scored when he was through on the keeper but penalised for nothing. And praise for Dunkley. He had a bit of a shocker at the beginning but grew to be very solid and it was hard to tell Mullins wasn't there. Right result at the end of the day.

 

[Gashead]

Not sure the Roofe 'goal' can be treated as a disallowed goal to be honest, every one bar him stopped for the foul. The Hylton foul bemused me at the time, still does, and whilst there are no guarantees I imagine he would have scored.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter. The referee was shite for both sides, but we had more than enough clear cut chances to equalise, even win the game. That's the frustration but hopefully we can convert some on Saturday.

 

[John Locke]

With the exception of Roofe's excellent goal, I thought the standard was absolute shite, a proper League 2 affair if I have ever seen one between two very limited sides.

I guess Rovers are just glad to be back in what is the big leagues for them, and aiming to 'do an Oxford' and consolidate at this level following a stint in non-league.

 

[John Locke]

This reminds me of an ongoing "discussion" I have with a German colleague about the 1966 World Cup Final goal that (he says) shouldn't have counted. OK, rule it out, we win 3-2, is my reply.

Let's give you the penalty, but let's also give us the Roofe goal that was ruled out and the Hylton one-on-one (and he doesn't miss those). We win 3-1. It's a futile argument, but the point is that the referee penalised both sides incorrectly, but fans only remember the ones where their side is on the receiving end.

As for the red card, I really don't believe it was a red, but the moment he gave it he then did his best to even things up. The foul count committed by us is only so high because the referee decided they were fouls, when many of them (in my opinion) weren't. He dished out yellows to us while letting other things go. He evened it up.

I'm not complaining, but I don't buy this "we was robbed" line from Rovers fans. We didn't play particularly well, but we did a number on you, and got the points. You weren't robbed, you lost a game one nil that you might have drawn, or you might have lost 3-1. Get over it, and win the next one, that's what successful sides do.

Evening Eric, have you dusted off the Stone Island for our meeting in October?

OUFC - Forever In Our Shadow