Seeing red: Rob Hunter slammed the performance of referee Ben Ballantyne
Glasshoughton Welfare chief Rob Hunter slammed the performance of referee Ben Ballantyne after the controversial 1-0 victory over Armthorpe Welfare last night, writes James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson).
James Beaston is facing a three-match ban for his red card in incident-filled which also saw Hunter sent from his dugout during the second half.
Liam Tuck, Russell Headley, Darrell Young and Reece Chappell were also yellow carded and Hunter was furious at the officials’ displays.
Beaston was dismissed on the stroke of half-time for allegedly elbowing Armthorpe’s Chris Davies.
“It was a strange decision by the referee because I don’t think he even saw it,” he told Sports Performer.
“The Armthorpe player did a lot of squealing and moaning. James Beaston had his back to the player and has turned to get the ball from the throw-in and handed the player off.
“The player has gone down holding his face and the referee has shown a red card. Before the referee gave the red card, the lad who went down holding his face was saying to James ‘see you later fella’. The (Armthorpe) lad got him sent off.
“What happened earlier was Russell Headley has picked the ball up in midfield and gone past the player and then dropped his shoulder and gone past the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper stuck his leg out and brought him down.
“The referee booked him for diving and it was the most ridiculous decision I have seen on a football pitch in my life. At this level to book someone for diving when he has an empty net to put the ball into is very strange.
“The referee has had an absolute howler of an evening. He made two of the worst decisions I have ever seen on a football pitch.
“To me the three officials need to have a long look at themselves and I think the fact there was an assessor here makes me happy because they were terrible.”
Hunter had to spend the last 20 minutes watching the game from the far side at Leeds Road after being given his marching orders after words were exchanged between him and assistant referee Paul Ballantyne.
However, Hunter dismissed the severity of the incident and does not expect any further action to be taken by the West Riding County FA.
“I had had a couple of run-ins with the linesman and he had said something to me and I said something which I thought was quite funny,” he said.
“I never swore. He told me to get back into my box and I said you’ll be in yours in two years anyway. I thought it was funny.
“He (the referee) hasn’t sent me off, he just told me he didn’t want me in the dugout. I don’t what that means?
“If they (West Riding County FA) want to send me a letter they can do it. It is easy for the referee to start showing cards and sending people from the dugout when he’s had an absolute howler himself.”