Someone asked this question on Kent Online. Where would we be if all matches this season had ended on 80 minutes. I looked into this and this is what I found: We would have 2 more points and so be in 17th place in the league. If games had ended on 80 minutes we would have gained 6 points, but also lost 4 points. We would have gained a point away today and a further 2 points when we played Port Vale at home. Furthermore we would have gained an extra point from the game at Sheffield United (as all goals were scored after 80 minutes). Finally we would have gained another 2 points from the home game at Swindon. However in other games it also would have worked against us. We would have not got a point from the Bradford game away, and we wouldn't have got a point from the Rochdale away game either. Finally we would have only got a point from the game at home to Peterborough when of course we actually won.
The problem would remain. There would still be a last 5 minutes. The solution is obvious, restrict games to 4 minutes.
Definitely NOT a go at you patchy as I respect and share your interest in numbers, but to the person who asked the question in first place - THEY DON'T. I despair of people who go into these scenarios. If the game was played over 80 minutes the added pressure that comes in the last 10 minutes of the game would just be brought forward 10 minutes. Sure, if stats show that you're shipping a lot of goals in the last 10 minutes that probably means something's wrong with the concentration or fitness of the defenders. 'What if' scenarios might be fun but they're utterly pointless.
Fans would have missed what sounds like a fantastic 10 minutes today. And wouldv'e missed the classic last 10 minutes v Hereford that ended 5-4. How about the Brentford game from 1-3 to 5-3 in the last 10 mins? Personally I'm glad they last 90 + (Wembley visits aside that is....)
As for Wembley appearances, well let's not forget Simeon Jacksons 89th minute winner against Shrewsbury
