Exeter boss Gary Caldwell was left furious at the decision to award Doncaster a late penalty in the 88th minute of the league opener.
Caldwell criticised a controversial refereeing decision that led to a 1-0 loss, a handball was called against Exeter’s Sil Swinkels, despite inconclusive replays and no initial appeals from Doncaster players.
Luke Molyneux scored the resulting penalty, securing the win for Doncaster. Caldwell argued the officials failed to follow new rules, costing Exeter the match.
💬 “In terms of performance, how we want to be, who we want to be, we have to be much better than that.”
Gary Caldwell on this afternoon’s opening day defeat at Doncaster Rovers ⬇️#ECFC #SemperFidelis pic.twitter.com/vPXpYR6PRg
— Exeter City FC (@OfficialECFC) August 2, 2025
“A poor decision decides the game in the end as for all the possession they had they didn’t create a lot of chances,” Caldwell said, as per Devon Live.
When questioned why he thought it was a poor decision, he replied: “I went on a two hour zoom on Thursday to tell us the new rules.
“The referees told us the new rules are that handball will need to be deliberate and clear and obvious and that is nowhere near clear and obvious handball. We are still not sure if it did touch his hand, wasn’t in an unnatural position, so the refs have to adhere to the new rules.”
The new EFL guidelines: “A less-is-more approach to handball will be maintained, recognising that not every instance of contact between a player’s hand or arm and the ball constitutes an offence.
“The focus remains on letting the game flow while penalising only those handball situations that clearly meet the criteria for an offence.”
No handball offence mitigating factors:
– Justifiable position/action– Supportive arm– Player plays ball onto own arm– Clear change of trajectory when touched by the same player– Played by a teammate– Proximity
Handball offence considerations:
– Deliberate movement of arm to the ball– Clear additional arm movement to the ball after it has hit another body part– Arm makes body bigger as a result of being in an unjustifiable position
💬 “I think we could’ve been better on the day.”
Ed Turns on defeat at Doncaster on the opening day ⬇️
Interview sponsored by @TheTurmericCo #ECFC #SemperFidelis pic.twitter.com/iiYOpQocuX
— Exeter City FC (@OfficialECFC) August 2, 2025
Exeter defender Ed Turns said: “It is a very disappointing penalty to give away, what can you say. From what I am hearing, we feel hard done by, especially with referees telling us they will be more lenient with handballs and stuff, but it is what it is.
“We could have been better on the day, we had a gameplan but didn’t carry it out as well as we wanted to. But disappointing to lose the way we did.”
Meanwhile, Doncaster’s Grant McCann said: “The shape of the team and structure of the team was excellent.
“We’ve put some really good balls and really good deliveries into the box which we probably just didn’t get on the end of. We’ve created some really good chances.
“It’s the opening day of the season and it isn’t going to be perfect but the pleasing thing was that we kept going. How we managed the last six or seven minutes of the season, with the ball in the corner, that is something we’ve learned over a period of time with us being here and the players getting used to it.
“It’s great to see.”
On securing a win during extended injury time, noting that this aspect of their game has been improving over the past year: “It came from last season and it’s something you have to learn from when you play in the lower levels.
“You have to be that way. When you’re 1-0 up, teams will go longer against you.
“But I didn’t think the ball was going to come out of the corner with Billy, Mols Gottsy, Damola – people like that around the ball, winning throw in after throw in, corner after corner. It was really pleasing to see.
“I’m over the moon with the three points, pleased with all the boys. It’s an excellent three points for us.”
This is how Twitter users reacted with Exeter boss Gary Caldwell furious at the decision to award Doncaster a late penalty…
@ByrneNL: Rovers fan here… that was never a penalty.
@anth_ecfc: Harsh pen, but what we deserve , awful performance
@IanWarren84: I’ve been supportive of Gary but it’s obvious despite again awful referring we are in deep trouble. Tactics are main issue. Far too deep and slow in transition. We play backwards all the time. We go from final third back to whitworth. Wingbacks are negative, and midfield lacking
@sihawk89: Pretty sure we’ve just used one of last season’s interviews here haven’t we? Rinse & repeat…no budget left, no CEO, no clue how to score 🤣 Long old season ahead lads! #ecfc
@mattydiggins11: Im going to do something positive out of this season so every time Mr Caldwell says the phrase ‘we must do better’ (or a similar derivative) in a post match interview, I’m going to donate a £5 to @MindCharity. Currently stands at £20 #ecfc
@MattyDavies98_: Wasn’t getting pretty much every other decision in your favour enough like? #DRFC #ECFC
@adrianley12: Another season of watching Clownwell’s pathetic football and the pathetic excuses coming out of his mouth again I watched it on television but those poor people who travelled need a refund how many will we score this season not many CALDWELL OUT
@SeanHooper123: Yes we’ve lost to a poor refereeing decision IMO, and don’t know what the Sky commentator saw saying Swinkels arm was high above his head as it certainly didn’t appear to be to me! Unfortunately looks like a long season ahead based on that performance #ecfc
@RyanTheGrecian9: We were terrible by my god, the ref was awful! First look that’s NEVER a penalty! #ecfc
@JohnScott817587: In any other job if you do a consistent bad job you’d be sacked. But not for refs they get promoted! PGMOL refs are a disgrace. #ecfc #pgmol #drfc #efl
@ecfc32: That’s a fucking dreadful decision by the referee by the way. Handball yet he’s literally up against the lad who’s headed it at him.. literally 0 feet away and expecting to move his arm out the way. #ecfc
@JohnBridger_: Ah EFL refs are back 😂#ECFC
