After the Lord Mayor's show.
Stevenage were very different opposition to Exeter and we couldn't cope, we escaped thanks to a last minute penalty from an awful ref which proved to be only our third shot on target.
Stevenage are a robust side who like to use strong-arm tactics, waste time, fall down at the slightest touch and use gamesmanship.
Against a side like that the referee needs to be strong, unfortunately Kevin Johnson had an absolute nightmare, the worst refereeing display I've ever seen, he was equally bad for both sides although he didn't see the elbows flying in from the Stevenage players
He's just come up from the Conference and this was his third game in the Football League. He allowed handballs to go unpunished and yet gave them against us, he lost control of the game early doors and Stevenage seized on his inexperience.
Bizarrely he did actually give the one handball that counted - our last minute penalty, even then there was confusion at what he actually awarded, was it a free-kick? Was it a goal kick? Thankfully it was a penalty to us which Smalley converted.
Norburn and Thomas were missing and we only had six subs while Stevenage could only manage four subs.
The first half was scrappy and stop-start, thanks to the whistle-happy ref, we created just one chance of note - when Reid headed wide from a good position.
The main talking point was when O'Connor lost the ball in midfield, a Stevenage forward advanced and had only Mellor to beat, the right-back got in a tackle but seemed to also fall over at the same time and handle the ball. At that stage he was the last man, another referee might have given the red card but this ref might have taken into account that Nelson and Hartley were closing in. I thought it should have been red.
The goal from Stevenage in the second half came from a mistake by McHugh, he tried to let the ball run out of play but a Stevenage player nipped in and crossed the ball to Calcutt who headed in, we had enough defenders to have dealt with that cross, a soft goal to concede.
Reid must be nursing an injury because he was subbed again with Morgan, Allen and Smalley all coming on in a "Holloway last throw of the dice" scenario from Sheridan.
We didn't create hardly any pressure or momentum and chances were at a premium until that last gasp penalty.
Until we learn how to beat robust teams like Stevenage we will never get much success in this league, we will come up against several sides like them this season and need to find a way to stand up to them. That said, we did nick a point when we should have been beaten.
Exeter were a nice easy team to play against compared to Stevenage.
Banton was poor and was a better at defending than attacking. Harvey showed a few nice touches but was largely anonymous. Reid came up against a very good centre back in Dembele and just could not get going.
Alessandra took an early (unpunished) elbow to his head and struggled after that.
McHugh is still a problem, he has moments where he switches off. Mellor had a good game and in a match where it's difficult to pick a best player he would come close.
Cox was dominated by Walton (who got an excellent reception), O'Connor was the pick of the midfield and looks a player.
Nelson was solid while Hartley surprisingly made a few errors.
Overall a point gained, thanks to a terrible ref - however bizarre that seems.
Entertainment 3/10.
McCormick 6, Mellor 7, Nelson 7, Hartley 5, McHugh 4, Banton 4, Cox 5, O'Connor 7, Alessandra 5, Harvey 5, Reid 5, Allen 5, Morgan 5, Smalley 6.
