Bristol City keeper Dean Gerken claims he deliberately missed with his punch at Connor Wickham’s last minute long throw which ended up in the back of the net during Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Portman Road. Gerken put in an outstanding display to deny the Blues a victory.

The former Colchester United man said: "We have been practising defending long throw situations in training.

"The skipper, Louis Carey, called for me to leave it. I had no fears at all once he had called it.

"It went straight in and obviously you can't score from a throw-in, which is lucky for me.

"I knew the rule. I knew as long as no one touched it on the line it couldn't be a goal. I couldn't be too sure because I couldn't see what happened behind me.

“I knew it couldn't be a goal, but I don't think too many other people in the stadium knew! I have never been beaten by a throw-in before. There is always a first."

Gerken felt his display was his most impressive since moving to Ashton Gate last summer: "This was my best game in a Bristol City shirt. I had a lot to do and it worked out well for me. Ipswich put us under some real pressure in the second half, so I'm delighted to be able to keep a clean-sheet.

City boss Gary Johnson said conceding in the final minute would have been harsh on his keeper: "I think our goalkeeper deserved that little bit of luck anyway. He said he meant to miss it."

Photo: Action Images

BluJu added 09:35 - Mar 1 Of course you did, Dean....
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brockleyblueboy added 09:35 - Mar 1 What ever. Just because you had a good performance. No way did he mean to miss that.
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Jamesypup added 09:44 - Mar 1 " I missed it on purpose" booollock! I just saw a pig go over my head Dean.
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WeWereZombies added 09:49 - Mar 1 If the skipper called for him to leave it then well done for listening and holding the chain of command. Mind you, if defender Wayne had said 'I think I'll go round to see my girlfriend tonight' and skipper John had said 'give it a miss'.....
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hoppy added 09:50 - Mar 1 Did this follow on from his other comment that he knew how big the area is, and he meant to let go of the ball before he was halfway to the britannia stand?
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Bergholtblue added 09:51 - Mar 1 If you believe that you will believe we will get automatic promotion in May. As he admitted himself, he couldn't be sure of what or who was behind him. No keeper would risk letting go at that stage of the game.
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Aussieblue added 09:52 - Mar 1 hahahahahahah hahahahahah hahahahahah, best laugh I've had for ages, oh god my sides, hahaha bloody hell cant stop laughing.
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nthstd added 10:00 - Mar 1 You mean we are not getting auotmatic promostion? I'm shocked I though that was part of the RK package..........LEAVE IT!
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NorwichBlue138 added 10:10 - Mar 1 What an idiot! Natural instinct as a goalkeeper would not say to leave the ball to trickle into the net in the 90th minute of a drawn game - what a joke - I think he is just embarrassed that all afternoon he parried every shot he could, and made up for the fact he couldn't catch with this fictional rubbish! Good performance on Saturday, just a shame we couldn't tuck away our chances

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Marcus added 10:13 - Mar 1 football's version of comical Ali...
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bennyblue added 10:14 - Mar 1 .
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HateDerekDavis added 10:15 - Mar 1 If he meant to miss it, he failed. From directly behind the incident, the ball went into the net off his gloves, no question. He'd have been better off saying nothing at all rather than that load of cobblers.
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bleedblue added 10:51 - Mar 1 Consider I sit behind the goal, I never heard a peep, he got lucky, but you cant deny the rest of the game, he was outstanding! Still concerned with our position and ruin in of games coming up, we need to score!!!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 10:51 - Mar 1 Yeah, right. Let the ball go over your head deliberately and not worry whether someone was going to nip in behind and touch it in. If that's the case, it was more luck than good judgement. That's not to say he didn't have a good game of course, but he'd get more cred if he just kept quiet about it. Also, Murphy's second-half save was equally as good as anything Gerken pulled off: RK was spot on with that acquisition at any rate.

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Lolocaust6 added 11:04 - Mar 1 Bullsh*t did he mean to leave. Gerken is just getting himself in more of a pickle
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BoxerBlue added 11:17 - Mar 1 Are u alan partridge in disguise lolo :-)
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Paulc added 11:22 - Mar 1 I'm pretty sure I'm right with this.... It is not allowed in football to call "leave it" you must put a name on the ball. I once got penalised for this myself in sunday league. The correct decision by the ref should be an indirect free kick to Ipswich at the point of the opposition making the call to leave it. Can anyone else substantiate this?
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greenkingtone added 11:40 - Mar 1 Yes Paul I was a ref. I was trained to penalise men shouting "right" with an indirect free kick. The player calling had to use a name. The offence was ungentlemanly conduct which covered a multitude of sins.
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Bluebell added 11:41 - Mar 1 Ha ha. There is no way a keeper would "mean to miss" a ball about to go into the net! If the ref had thought someone had touched it, it would have been a goal. Stupid boy!
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Paulc added 12:02 - Mar 1 Thanks greenekingtone, I'm going to campaign to have Bristol City docked a point and award town all 3 plus another 3 for pain and suffering!..........I've got a £10 bet with a Derby fan that we finish above them so i'll do anything not to have to pay him!
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Bluroo added 13:13 - Mar 1 Bull
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patrickswell added 13:35 - Mar 1 Reading Gary Johnson's comments and in view of the season that we have had, I would like to say in advance of any game in which a goalkeeper denies us sigle-handedly only to unluckily concede in the last minute: Up yours! Up yours! Up yours! Up yours! We need a break!
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RetroBlue added 14:48 - Mar 1 well Gerkion 's comments have just confirmed that he DID touch the ball and a goal should have stood. The most important point though , is he shouldnt have even been on the pitch in the 2nd half - a red card for deliberate handball outside the area matey !!
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corshamblue added 15:01 - Mar 1 Bolderdash
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yorksblue added 15:17 - Mar 1 Paulc I've got £50 with a Pompey mate on them going down and us going up. Oh well!
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