FL2: Bradford City v Torquay Utd 8/12/12

Gary Jones' quote was:

"I think Torquay gave us a tougher game. It was like a role reversal against them. Torquay defended well against us and we defended really well against Arsenal."

As for Droylsden, their misdemeanour was definitely deliberate. The club's manager/chairman Dave Pace was informed that Sean Newton was to serve a one match suspension but selected him anyway for the cup tie against Chesterfield. He might have got away with it had Newton not scored both goals in the Bloods' 2-1 win.

Droylsden's expulsion was the culmination of a very crotchety tie. The first match was abandoned because of fog with the non-leaguers 1-0 up but only those spectators within 10 yards or so actually saw them score. Dave Pace made a song and dance about the decision to call off the match but it was, in truth, a farce. The tie was resumed the following week and drawn 2-2 but only after Chesterfield's Jack Lester, thrown the ball to return to the goalie after the ball had been kicked out of play to allow an injury to be treated , instead lobbed it over the keeper's head and into the net. The ref had no option to give a goal and immediately a huge fight broke out on the pitch as Droylsden's squad took exception to what was a piece of (a) fantastic skill and (b) appalling sportmanship. When the dust settled Chesterfield's manager Lee Richardson instructed his team to allow their opponents to walk the ball down the field and into the net but the bad feeling persisted.

Onto the replay. Chesterfield, 2-0 ahead with less than 20 minutes left, were thinking about their trip to Ipswich in the next round when, without explanation, the floodlights went off. Match abandoned again amid strong suspicion of sabotage, and it was against that background that Dave Pace deliberately selected his goalscorer Sean Newton for the deciding match.

Compared to those shenanigans Bradford City's apparently accidental mistake seems unworthy of the same punishment, although we can only wonder what the FA would have done had they actually beaten Brentford the other week rather than drawing. I'd have thought Brentford would have had grounds for an appeal of their own in that case.

As for Torquay being robbed of a point for the same offence, it does seem harsh especially since their opponents had done the same and TUFC lost anyway. Still, two wrongs don't make a right and I think good sense has prevailed this time. Just so long as the match at Griffin Park doesn't go to a penalty shoot out, anyway.