Ince is charged by FA over red card
Midfielder’s threegame ban likely to be extended,
CHELTENHAM Town boss Michael Duff said referee Michael Salisbury got all the key decisions wrong as the Robins went down 1-0 at Leyton Orient in their first League Two match of the season.
It all went wrong in the 68th minute when Josh Wright put the home side in front.
Luke Varney was sent off two minutes later for a second yellow card and Rohan Ince was dismissed before play could restart after throwing a water bottle at the fourth official.
Varney had earlier been booked for simulation after being denied a seventh-minute penalty after a challenge by goalkeeper Dean Brill.
“It was a stonewall penalty and it was a double whammy because he booked Reg (Luke Varney) which led to a red card later in the game, which I didn’t think was a red card either,” said Duff.
“I don’t think we got any help from the referee. We started the game really well, looked on top and to go 1-0 to kill the atmosphere, obviously you have to score the penalty, but it would have been a big marker straight away, putting them on the back foot.
“You hope they make the right decisions and I don’t think he has.
Reg was booked for simulation. How you can toe the ball away from the goalkeeper, who is sliding out and you are running full tilt, and you can avoid contact within a yard, I think it’s impossible.
“I’ve seen it back so I am not surmising, I know, it is absolutely 100 per cent a penalty.
“I’ve also seen the second one back, two players with their arms in exactly the same position moments before contact.
“He has booked Reg, who had a bit more momentum than their lad. There was a coming together, but there was no swung elbow and they both led with their arms in the same position.“
Duff explained the Ince decision, saying: “Rohan had a drink of water, walked onto the pitch and because he’s disappointed that Reg has just been sent off, he’s thrown the bottle, an empty plastic bottle, it’s hit the fourth official.
“He seems to think he did it intently. I am not sure Rohan’s aim is that good that he can hit someone five or six yards away, walking the other way.
“There is not a lot I can do about that one, but I think it’s very soft, particularly after what’s gone on in the 60 minutes before that.
“It did touch him so technically he can say he hit him with a water bottle.
“On a technicality you could say it’s a red card, but I was stood right next to him and for me, it’s not.
“He’s made the ref make a decision. I don’t think he meant to do it, he’s not that type of lad.
“But don’t give the officials a decision to make, especially the way the game was going.
“I thought the lads were excellent after that to be fair to them.
“To have nine men for 20 or 25 minutes, to dig in the way they did and we had a chance at the end.
“The game was dead at that point.
We tried to have a go, using 4-2-2, but first game of the season away from home, the lads are absolutely dead on their feet.
“I am not just hiding behind the referee because there are things we could have done better and the goal was a poor one to give away. But it’s difficult to get away from those.”
After the two red cards, Duff switched Ben Tozer into midfield and left Alex Addai and new loan signing Gavin Reilly up front in a vain bid to get someing out of the game.
“It’s not very often you go right lads, you are 1-0 down and you’ve just had two men sent off.
“I’ve never seen it happen before. Toze can play in midfield, so we moved him up one, went to a back four and tried to keep two up the pitch.
“We weren’t going to pass through them at that point. It was going to be a whack or Alex (Addai) or Gav (Reilly) getting a one-on-one scenario.
“We could have gone 4-4-0 and tried to shore it up. But first game of the season, we did try and get back into it.
“It’s disappointing because there was a big build-up and you are just frustrated.
“We could have done a little bit more, but at half-time it was a nip and tuck situation and I thought we could have edged it.”
Duff said he felt that his side went a bit too direct at times while the game was at 0-0.
“We tried to tell them we wanted an extra pass in the second half and we didn’t do that,” he said.
“We need to have the confidence to take the ball.
“Because we got in early with two or three straight balls, which was the plan on transition because they are open and we got in down the sides quite well but because we kept doing it, they went deep and split.
“We needed an extra pass in the middle of the pitch then and we didn’t, we kept going long.
“t the start of the second half we went a little bit deep and still went long so the game got a little bit bigger and bigger to we invited them on in the end.
“There was a buoyant atmosphere and after about five minutes it’s a ‘what if’ because if we’d scored, how would they have reacted. It would have spoiled their buoyancy. But it’s ifs, buts and maybes.”
The Robins boss was pleased with the debut of loanee Max Sheaf, and also glad to see Josh Debayo come through an hour before Chris Hussey made his return.
“Max did well,” said Duff. “He showed what he’s about. He gets in good pockets, looks to play forward.
“He has to learn the other side of the game, which is why he’s on loan.
“The long ball for the goal, we have lost the first ball, but their midfield has run off our midfield, so we have three men in there, so it’s a disappointing goal and we’ll get on with it, but we need to tidy up on that. But I thought he did okay.
“Josh did well for the time he was on, but his legs started to cramp up, so we took him off.
“We took a bit of a gamble with Chris because that’s his first 30 minutes of football, but he’ll be better for that. That was a positive.”