Reasonable start to the season says Turner

Hereford United's manager Graham Turner has said that it's been a 'reasonable start to the season'. Speaking after this afternoon's game, he admitted that several players didn't quite perform but put that down to the mid-week game against Yeovil.

"We had a poor start to the game conceding a goal. We never got started and it took the sending off to really get us playing. We needed to kill them off," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"There was always that threat towards the end that they would throw men forward and get the ball forward and we nearly paid a very heavy penalty for not making the most of our positions in the second half."

However the main talking points from the game were the sending off and the penalty.

"We needed that little bit of luck with the decision that went for us when they had a player sent off. The referee didn't want to give it but the linesman who was in a good position obviously flagged straight away and was adamant of what he had seen," said Turner in his post match interview with the Official Site.

"I didn't have a view of it (the penalty). I was quite surprised when the penalty was given. Obviously something had gone on that he had seen and I think he was adamant that it was the right decision."

Meanwhile Paul Fairclough, in his post-match interview, after making the usual excuses about not being a person who criticises the officials went on to do just that.

"The referee was ten yards from the incident. He clearly indicated with both hands to play on and then the linesman who is thirty yards away has signalled and the referee has run across to the linesman and indicated that Devera tripped him. There is no way Devera would do that. It's supposed to be about denying a goal scoring opportunity but the ball was in Lee Harrison's hands," said Fairclough.

"Ludicrous, farcical and then the poor lad went from bad to worse.

"The referee was the star today. I'll be appealing against the sending off.

"I will hold my hands up when we get beaten, but we didn't deserve to get beaten today. It was ten men against 12."

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