THE three-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player has sabotaged our promotion push.

This inexcusable, unnecessary administrative error has let everyone down. The rules are simple, clear and important. However 'mitigating' the circumstances might be it should not have happened.

I feel particularly sorry for manager Ady Pennock and his players. They will be judged on the end of season league position. In a closely contested division three points could mean a difference of several places. The team now face a season with a ball and chain tied to its collective leg.

I am also sorry for the many loyal supporters this club have, the sort of people who travel away, often at considerable personal expense. Few of us are cash rich (I am lucky – I get free entry) but loving the club we make sacrifices. Amongst us all there is anger and hurt.

The club administration has got so much right. Ticket sales and car parking come to mind, but in this important football area they have let us down. I am sure chairman Dale Vince will be troubled as well. His input has been timely and considerable. He deserves better.

Manager Ady did not attend the post match press conference. I believe he feared he may have said something untoward about the deduction. He need not have worried. All of us who write about the fortunes of FGR have the club deep in our hearts. We all wished to sympathise and offer personal support. The only fear was that the occasion could have ended with collective tears. We all know why it matters.

The deduction was made worse by the football. Our team gave their best display of the season and could easily have won. A rash moment by Russell and two occasions when our usually splendid defence tried to give a collective impression of the stone human statues on Easter Island, presented Barnet with their match winning goals. Apart from that they created little from open play. Rovers matched them.

Barnet however stood firm.

The injured Clovis Kamdjo was missed. His zest and energy is essential to a team that could be more mobile. Too many corners taken by FGR were gobbled up by Barnet. This was a special area where we missed Clovis.

To the neutral fans, two of whom travelled with me from Cirencester, Saturday was a fine occasion. Good ground – good team, splendid facilities was their judgement, adding that the result was cruel. It was, but of course to win matches you have to score goals and we are not doing it. Only four teams in the league have scored fewer home goals than us.

Loan signing from Newport Christian Jolley was an interesting addition. He did not look 100 per-cent fit, but added mobility to our forward play. Whether he is better than anyone we have will be proved during the next month when matches come thick-and-fast.

Looking at the promptly posted match highlights confirmed my view that when we gave away the two goals our defence was static. No one reacted when the penalty hit the post while the corner was allowed to travel too far across the goalmouth. We made it too easy for our opponents. Such lack of concentration has been rare this season, but it can always be fatal, especially against sides like Barnet.

Mad Dog Martin Allen added to the entertainment. His tracksuit did not flatter him, showing he has become considerably more chubby. (Does this happen to all managers?) Certainly at times he was overbearing but at others encouraged or criticised his team in an animation display. I liked the way he went straight to the Barnet fans at the final whistle.

What now? It is a good thing the Torquay game comes so quickly. Everyone needs a win, happily one with plenty of goals. Hopefully Clovis will play, but I do not know where. Perhaps at the expense of Marcus Kelly. Marcus contributes moments of skill, but in the second half they are all too few. A win would help ease the pain. A defeat to promotion rivals is a kick in the teeth, add that to the points deduction and it seemed the boot landed two feet lower.