It may have been the final game of the season, with not much other than bragging rights riding on it, but Saturday’s away trip to Bradford had plenty to talk about it as over 18,000 fans were given plenty to cheer and shout about.
And manager Paul Simpson admitted disappointment at a penalty decision that proved to be a huge moment in the game.
“I thought we were doing well up to the point we conceded the first goal, and I have no idea how that has gone in from that distance,” he said.
“I haven’t seen it back, so I don’t know. I thought we worked extremely hard over the game and we played some decent football.
“It’s the same old story, we haven’t had quality in the final third and also, I do have to say, it’s an absolutely shocking decision from the referee not to give the penalty.
“Who knows, we might not have scored, but we had the opportunity to go 1-1 from the spot and within seconds we’ve conceded a goal and we’re two down.
“Those types of decisions change games. I think it’s an embarrassing decision from the referee and he’s tried to make an excuse about some new rule.
“I don’t know where he’s coming from with that, it’s a rubbish decision from a referee who I don’t think gave us a single decision in the whole game.
“It makes you wonder if he was a little bit frightened to do it in front of a big crowd. With that one Kristian Dennis took the first touch and he’s pulled his leg back, and he’s just about to shoot, and Hendrie clipped his heel. It’s a penalty, end of story.”
“I think there’s only one person in the whole ground who missed it,” he added. “I’ve seen it back on the video, he’s in a good place, he’s looking, and he’s got no excuse.
“He was in a decent position, so I’ll give him credit for that, but that’s all he’s getting credit for because I felt he was really poor.
“When you have a referee at this level you have to be brave enough to make the right decisions and to give some pathetic excuse about a change in the rules isn’t acceptable.
“Saying that, we should still have security behind the ball and we shouldn’t allow them to go on and score within seconds of that.
“I just don’t know, you know me, I’m not even sure I’ve had a go at a ref this season, because I know it’s a difficult job, but those decisions change games.
“And at half-time it was something of nothing. We were walking off the pitch and one of their players grabbed Mellish on the back of the neck, Gav tried to step in and I think Mark caught him on his blindside.
“To be fair to Mark he apologised to him at the end. At least the players all stuck together and got involved and tried to separate it. No doubt the referee will report us for that because he needed to make a decision against us, as he did for most of the game.”
In a game that was intriguing to watch, there was no lack of passion and effort from the visitors, with just the final ingredient of goals missing.
“You have to be committed in every game, because what a support we’ve seen again, it’s incredible, and they deserve it,” he insisted. “I think the players have done things right, they’ve played and we’ve had to put a couple of young boys on the bench because Rod McDonald and Kelvin Mellor have both been ill this week.
“What a great experience for two young lads to be part of this. It was a game we wanted to win against a good Bradford side, and I thought over the 90 minutes we did a lot of good things.
“There are still loads of things to improve on, it’s the end of this season and we now start properly for the next one.
“And that’s a challenge I’m looking forward to. I’m really enjoying being back. I just want everything to fall in place, and I want us to work hard to get everything in place.
“We’ve built up a little bit of head of steam in terms of the enthusiasm coming from the supporters, and we have to make sure we keep it.
“There’s no point over these next three months letting it all fall flat on its backside and having nothing to look forward to.
“We have to make sure we keep this positivity, and it sounds really silly because we’re being positive about finishing 20th in the league - we have to keep the feeling of goodwill that’s coming towards us.
“We need to build a better football club, a better football squad, get better results for these people who are paying good money to come and follow us, and hopefully that will start as soon as we can.”
Click HERE to watch an interview with Paul Simpson on iFollow United now.
Click HERE to see a clip from this interview on our YouTube channel. Follow the same link for more FREE content right from the heart of the club.