Boss takes comfort in defensive shut-out

DESPITE the consensus that Robbie Simpson’s shot had crossed the line in the first half at Dean Court, the trip south to Bournemouth wasn’t a completely fruitless one for Athletic manager Paul Dickov.

A first clean sheet in eight matches and a point gained from a ground at which the team last season picked up nothing represented a degree of progress.

Defensively, the visitors coped well with Lee Bradbury’s side, who only really came close on a couple of occasions – the latter arriving deep in added time towards the end of the game, when substitute Charlie Sheringham rattled the crossbar with a superb dipping 25-yard shot.

It was Simpson’s goal-that-wasn’t which was on everyone’s lips at the end of a fairly attritional stalemate, though, leading Dickov to conclude that referee Andy D’Urso should have spotted that defender Cook’s clearance inside his own goal had come a fraction too late.

“I couldn’t see it from where I was (near the dug-out),” Dickov admitted, after a performance in which his side found the going tough as an attacking force.

“But our players’ reactions and even their players coming off at half-time said it was over the line.

“The referee is close to it and he is looking at the linesman.

“The big decisions should be right in football matches and looking at it, we should be talking about a 1-0 victory.”

FIFA spent last week testing a variety of new goal-line technology systems down the road at Spotland to find out if any are suitable for bringing into the sport, possibly as early as next season at the top level. For Dickov, some sort of aid for officials should be in place already.

“It is 2011, nearly 2012, and we can’t have anything which tells us if the ball is over the line or not, regardless of whether the referee sees it,” he added. “It is crazy.”

The result leaves Athletic on the cusp of the top half in npower League One, five points behind the play-off positions with a cup double against Southend and Bradford up next.

“We got a clean sheet and defensively, we looked ever so strong which hasn’t been the case recently,” Dickov said.

“At the same time, we have been banging the goals away for fun and that didn’t quite happen for us.

“Keeping a clean sheet and gaining a point isn’t a bad result, but I am disappointed with it as I want to try to win every game.

“Our shape made it difficult for them to get going. It is a tough place to come to, especially when the crowd gets going and they get their tails up.

“We stood strong and it was a very disciplined performance.

“They started a bit more brightly than we did. We got that sorted and then looked ever so solid.

“Apart from the one shot they had at the end (Charlie Sheringham’s effort which struck the crossbar) I thought if one team was going to win, it would be us.”