Stone brands red card flurry as 'absolute madness' as Doughboys suffer Coleshill frustration

The Doughboys' Connor Furlong and Lloyd Buckby were dismissed on an incident-packed afternoon, while Alex McSkeane and Taylor Carter-Byrne both saw red for the home side.

Borough looked to be heading for a crucial victory in their bid for a promotion play-off place as they led 1-0 against their fifth-placed hosts thanks to Buckby's 73rd-minute strike.

But the match was to end in frustration for the visitors as Ryan Boothe netted the equaliser from the penalty spot six minutes into time added on at the end of a game that ended with both sides down to nine men.

The late, late strike meant the Doughboys missed a huge chance to close to within a point of the top five, and instead they have moved up to seventh but remain four points off the play-off pace, although they do have a game in hand.

"I get on with their manager well, and we were fairly honest that we felt that if the game was just left alone to play then it would have been a good game that could have gone either way," said Stone.

"I am not saying we deserved everything and should have got three points, but the way it played out we should have absolutely got the win.

"We should hold on because it is more or less the last kick, I think there was 10 seconds left if that.

"We put ourselves in a position where if you win important games like this then it sets the tone for your last 10 or 12 matches.

"You don't want to go into those with a negative feeling, and this does make me feel like that because it is a goal conceded with the last kick.

"But for it to end nine versus nine in a game that was most undirtiest in the world, is absolute madness.

"I thought the red card that he gave for the elbow to Jack O'Connor (by McSkeane) could have been a yellow, but I thought he gave the red because if what had happened earlier to Danny Draper.

"I thought it was a reaction off that because he 'I have messed up, I didn't see that', and then he gets the red card out and it sets the tone.

"In truth, that could have been a yellow and then for Furlong's red that looks and sounds worse because the barrier is there, and that could have been a yellow as well.

"We don't want to break them all down, but we had this referee last season and, unfortunately his communication skills are pretty poor. He seems a nice fella, but decisions he struggles with a little bit and explaining those.

"When we had him last season, he sent two or three people off in that game, and I did say to the lads before the game, 'this ref is card happy, so be careful'.

"That's not on the ref, that's on the players because I told them and knew what was coming.

"Connor and Lloyd have let their team-mates down, and they know that, but they have been brilliant for us and the match has ended in a draw when we should have won."

Draper was forced off in the first-half after injuring his arm following a pull from a Coleshill player, and Stone revealed the initial prognosis on the injury is not good.

"It looks like it is either a broken arm, or a dislocated elbow," said the Doughboys boss. "That was right in front of the referee, he is literally a yard away, and the lads clearly pulled his arm.

"I am not saying it's a red card, but the referee didn't even give a foul, and that kind of set the tone for the day and it went downhill from there to be honest."

The Doughboys are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday night when they entertain Corby Town in the NFA Hillier Senior Cup semi-finals at the Dog & Duck (ko 7.45pm).

Interview by Peter Short