Nick Radcliffe should have been sent off in Knaresborough’s FA Cup Preliminary Round defeat to West Allotment Celtic
Knaresborough Town may put a mistaken identity claim into the FA over the controversial red card awarded to Will Lenehan in the FA Cup Preliminary Round defeat to West Allotment Celtic.
Knaresborough are waiting for the reports from the game to decide their next course of action, but photographs of the incident clearly show that referee Darren Whatling sent the wrong man off in the first half.
Nick Radcliffe brought down Liam Hudson in front of goal before Matt Duerden cleared the ball away from danger.
A penalty was correctly awarded, but, Whatling bizarrely made a mess of the situation by pulling out Lenehan and Duerden before incorrectly red carding the former.
Knaresborough manager Brian Davey said: “One (Nick Radcliffe) player made a tackle, the second one (Matt Duerden) made a tackle and the referee brought it back and he sent the lad off for the first tackle even though he didn’t know who made the tackle.
“He said to the two (Lenehan and Duerden) players, ‘I’m going to have to send one of you off’ and he didn’t know who it was (who made the tackle).
“He picked Will and he wasn’t even one of the two who made a tackle. It was a farce.
“He was stood nowhere the tackle, but he (the referee) made his decision and he wasn’t going to change it.
“I don’t think he (the referee) has changed it yet.”