ROVERS RUE ‘CRAZY’ BENE ORDERING OFF

RAITH Rovers boss Gary Locke was left to rue Kyle Benedictus’ “crazy” red card against Ayr United as both sides ended a tempestuous 1-1 draw at Stark’s Park with 10 men.

The hosts looked to be on their way to a vital win when Joel Coustrain’s fine early strike broke t he deadlock.

However, Benedictus was dismissed f or t wo bookings in quick succession, one for dissent and the other for scything down Nicky Devlin.

But Ayr’s numerical advantage was lost when Paul Cairney was ordered off for a rash tackle on Ross Callachan.

Despite Rovers attempting to hold out for a fourth clean sheet in a row, Gary Harkins rescued a point with a sumptuous 87th-minute free-kick.

“You are not going to see two clearer red cards all season,” said Locke.

“Bene ( Benedictus) holds his hands up. He has been a colossus for us all season but the tackle for his second yellow card was crazy, just as Paul Cairney’s was.

“I was disappointed with the first booking for Bene as well. It was stupid. We are very strict on dissent. You have to channel complaints i n the right manner, especially when you are the captain. He knows he has done wrong and I will speak to him about it.

“However, as a team we were nowhere near good enough, either. We didn’t deserve to win.”