Bristol Academy WFC

7 October 2011

Post Match: Mark Sampson

Speaking to the assembled Russian media after the match Bristol manager Mark Sampson was clearly frustrated with the penalty decision given against his team which allowed Voronezh to open the scoring.

“I feel our club wasn’t given a fair sporting chance tonight, we were punished by a set of officials who weren’t good enough and a player has cheated to rob my players of the chance to progress. In big games the first goal is crucial everyone knows that and the penalty given against us is a ridiculous decision, live on the night and looking back on it on the video it’s laughable and at the time everyone in the ground could see she dived so for the officials to make an error of that size is just not good enough and something we can’t accept. ‘Part of the game’ we are told at half time and ‘something we need to learn to do’, no chance we won’t be cheating. Going to ground when you are fouled or contact is made fine that’s not a dive it’s a foul but jumping to the ground when there is clearly no foul or contact is cheating and there is absolutely no place for that in the game.

We go out now and don’t play again in this competition but I bet when I look at the referee list for the next round tonight’s officials are on it again and I bet there forward plays in the last 16 for Voronezh. My players won’t continue, not in this competition and nor should these officials after a blatant error of that size. And the forward who cheated should be banned for the rest of the competition, simple. How is that right for the game that she goes on in the competition and a group of honest footballers are sat at home thinking what could of been, what message does that send out to any young player?. It saddens me deeply that this is part of the sport is creeping into the women's game, it it the firsttime I have seen it in the women's game and I just hope the authorities crack down on it quickly before it infects an honest sport."

When asked about the game the manager identified the decision to award the penalty so early in the game put his team firmly on the back foot but was happy with the way they fought back and came very close to causing a major upset.

“In terms of the game it is difficult to analyse as the penalty decision has such a big impact on the tie. But we have come away from home and had nine shots on target added to ten corners which is an indication of the effort the team put in after having such a hammer blow to deal with both on the score sheet and mentally so early in the game. Defensively, even though we conceded four we defended as a team superbly with every player really working incredibly hard to make sure we were a compact unit. It is a hard reflection on us that we conceded two late goals when we were chasing and coming very close to making it 2-2 on the night. We had to make lots of changes and the players who stepped in and others who played out of position really put in a shift for team. For Jaz Matthews to play to the level she did for the first time in central midfield at senior level in this game is a fantastic achievement and then for 17 year old Ellie Curson to come on for her debut and score just shows we have young players at the club who are ready to step in and take their chance, which should mean we can look forward to a very positive future. But over the course of the two legs when we look back it will be the chances we didn’t convert that have cost us, in both games we had enough good opportunities to win the tie but we didn’t take them. That is something we need to address and now at the end of the season we can reflect and look at how we can improve in that area, but now is not the time to discuss that now is a time to be very proud of the players and what they have achieved this season.

“Overall the experience of this competition will be of great benefit to the whole football club we have grown immensely as a club this season and made truly incredible strides in putting the club in a strong position in every area. We have an important period now to consolidate and then look on how we can move forward again in every area. I believe we have set some very strong foundations this season so we can look forward to seeing all that hard work come to fruition in every area next season. Now we wish Voronezh all the best for the remainder of the completion and look forward to long journey home then enjoying a well earned rest.”

 

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