‘It certainly was an eventful afternoon,’ said the manager afterward when speaking to Brian Halford of BBC CWR. ‘I was pleased with the starting line up. I thought the first 15 minutes we were competitive - we’ve hit the inside of a round post and it came out. I thought it had the makings of a good game. They’re a good side here, they really are.
‘People can just look back and watch the game. I’ve probably had around 1,500 games on the touchline, and I’ve never seen anything quite like some of the things that have gone on today.
'The sending off of the player - I had a clear view of it, and it did hit Theo on his knee and went up round the chest area because I could just see it from around my angle - then there was a delayed reaction with it, then the whistle was blown. I thought he (The Referee) had given us a free kick for an infringement. He then walked towards Joe Clarke and I thought he was going to send Joe Clarke off. He then walked towards Jack Lane. Because it’s a set play I know where these players are going to be. Jack Lane is marking in sort of the middle of the six yard box, and when you look back at it you will see that. So he’s thought it was Joe Clarke, then he’s decided that it’s Jack Lane, and the reality is that it’s the player who was on the line - it’s Theo Streete, who’s got 15 years experience in the game - and there’s a hell of a difference between Theo Streete and Jack Lane.
‘Forget everything else that’s gone on today - for all the supporters and the players that have travelled - the game has gone then - it’s just damage limitation really. I’m experienced enough now to keep out of it, but at half time he was calling me Ian - he thought I was the Boston manager, the Referee, Dane. That probably explains it all doesn’t it? I just said look, the common denominator is, the player you’ve sent off is white, and the player on the line was black. He said to me that he was 100% certain he had got the decision right.
‘I worry a bit for football really because there’s a lot of this happening. At some of the games I have watched this season there’s been players getting sent off left right and centre; there’s strange decisions left right and centre. I and all the players at Leamington fully understand the new directives; I think if they’re implemented correctly they’re probably for the good of the game, no issues at all, but I think that the powers that be really do need to look at who is reffing at certain levels. That’s the bottom line here.
‘You could see the way the game was going when we went 2-0 down. Boston are a very good home side, a very good footballing side. They’re full time, and 11 v 10 was always going to be difficult for us. We’ve then had some decisions to make. We’ve had to go into a lower block, we’ve had to go 4-4-1. We got Tyrone off the pitch as a precaution - Henry’s then feeling his groin….. I feel a little bit for the fans really, because you think do you go 4-3-2 and try and have a go, but I just thought that where we were, my job was just to try and not get anybody else sent off.
‘The biggest thing about what’s gone on today, and the circumstances, is that the players have got to show control. You’ve only got to look at the challenges that have gone in on Adam Walker and Dan Baldwin that have gone unpunished. I’ve seen games like that before where teams have gone on to have 8 or 9 players. The day was probably taken away from us, and we’ve just got to make sure that the knock-on effects of today don’t affect us next week or the week after.
‘Listen, it’s their day today, we wish them good luck in the next round, and I’m pretty sure the appeals panel won’t take too long rescinding this one!’
