An FA Cup tie that was a slow burner. Poor first half that was littered with fouls and ended with driving rain. But the ending was as dramatic as you’ll see, with Torquay getting a late equaliser to force a replay.
The referee was kept busy and there were a few talking points. One was a head high challenge on a Torquay player. Dangerous play but the fact it wasn’t deliberate swayed Mr. Rock’s mind and he settled, wisely in my view, for a yellow card. The replay backed him up.
Then in a frenetic second half, a shirt pull by a Derby player in the area resulted in a clear penalty to Torquay. After a long deliberation, David Rock produced a red card. I have to say that there was a covering defender and I’m not convinced it was a DOGSO. But others will have different opinions I’m sure.
Derby then indulged in some rather blatant time wasting and the referee was a little lenient. But these overt tactics rebounded on the League 1 side when the referee played on over the 4 minimum added minutes. Torquay equalised to make it 2-2 and cue pandemonium. Wonderfully exciting end to the game.
I thought David Rock did reasonably well overall, but the red card and the lack of action on the time wasting tarnished his display slightly. As I said before, until independent time keepers are brought into football, this charade will continue at all levels.
Some cracking cup tie action and no VAR!