Paul Tisdale: We feel hard done to with offside decision
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale said he felt his side were hard done to on Saturday as a dubious offside flag cost them at Carlisle United.
The Grecians fell to a 3-2 loss at Brunton Park with goals from Shaun Miller, in the 89th minute, and Charlie Wyke, in the seventh minute of stoppage time, giving the Cumbrians all three points.
However, City had a glorious chance to take all three points when the scores were level at 2-2. Carlisle had set up in a 2-4-4 formation at this point as they looked for a stoppage time winner.
And their gung-ho approach almost cost them as they lost possession in their own half and City's Liam McAlinden was sent racing through on goal only to be denied by a dubious offside flag.
That decision comes off the back of some poor penalty calls that have already cost City this season - at home to Portsmouth in the League and Luton Town in the FA Cup.
As a result, Tis was far from happy with the officials.
“We feel hard done by that poor offside decision at 2-2 because it could have easily been our winner,” said Tis.
“It just seems to be the way things are going for us at the moment but we have got to keep our heads up because the players did so well.
“It is not the first time this season we have come a cropper with a bad decision. That is a one-on-one chance with three minutes to go with the score at 2-2.
“That is our game. We feel we played well today. We gave everything and we deserved at least a draw against a very good side and we just have to keep going.”
City took the lead through Reuben Reid inside the opening minute but found themselves back on level terms when Charlie Wyke headed home eight minutes later.
Lee Holmes put City back in front in the second half but was then forced off having been knocked unconscious by a hefty challenge.
City had chances to stretch their lead on the counter but were left defending for large parts of the second half. That was not a surprise to Tis though.
“I thought we played our game,” he said. “We didn’t come here to defend. We played some good football. You have to defend at the end when a team puts plenty of players up front and goes for it. They are entitled to that and we had to respond and we did. It is a cruel game, but we have got to keep going because we deserved something. We absolutely deserved something from that game.
“I think we have had one bad performance in the last seven or eight games so the performances are there but we have to turn those into wins.”
Tis also praised the 150 fans who travelled to Brunton Park for the match and applauded the team off the pitch at the final whistle.
“I have to thank them enormously,” he said. “They make huge efforts to travel and support us. They stuck behind us and they were clapping the boys off at the end. So well done them and, as always, we are very proud of them.”