FOOTBALL - 'ROBBED'

9:41am Wednesday 9th August 2006

STEVE Fletcher is convinced Cherries were "robbed" of the chance of claiming their first win of the season on Tuesday night.

Referee Jarnail Singh turned down TWO cast-iron penalty appeals as Sean O'Driscoll's side dominated their 0-0 draw at Yeovil.

The official waved away both spot-kick claims after Yeovil defender Andy Lindegaard had clearly handled twice inside eight second-half minutes.

Fletcher, who captained the side after being restored to the starting line-up, led from the front as Cherries turned in a magnificent display at Huish Park.

He told the Daily Echo: "You won't see two more blatant penalties. I suppose you could probably forgive him one, but not two.

"I spoke to Karl Broadhurst after the game and he said that even their centre-forward said he could hear the slap on the lad's hand from the halfway line for the second one.

"The referee gave a corner for the second one and when I asked him why, he said it came off his thigh. But he pushed it with his hand, it was that blatant.

"Both incidents deprived us of the chance of earning three points that we thoroughly deserved because I thought our performance was outstanding from start to finish."

Cherries boss O'Driscoll said: "I thought they were penalties, but I would. We thought there was a good case for two, but we didn't get them."

O'Driscoll was more concerned with Cherries' profligacy after they squandered a hatful of chances: "I think anybody who watched the game would have thought we deserved to win, but we didn't.

"To win games, you've got to score goals and we missed the chances we created so that's something we've got to work on.

"We didn't hit the target enough and we didn't make their goalkeeper make saves. It's alright creating the openings, but you've got to finish them off.

"We need to brush up on that. We didn't score a lot of goals in pre-season and we've played two league games now and haven't scored. It's something we need to get on the training pitch and work at."

Asked if he was pleased with his side's display in the wake of Saturday's defeat by Chesterfield, O'Driscoll replied: "We were disappointed because that's the way they can play. To play like they did on Saturday, they've got to be disappointed because they showed tonight what we get out of them 90 per cent of the time.

"We don't win as many games as we should, but the way we play and the way we approach the game has been first class and they showed that tonight. They bounced back and put on a performance and that's all you can ask."