Bartley defends himself and Brown after fracas
Marlow manager Mark Bartley was keen to defend himself and player Jordan Brown after both were sent off following a second half flashpoint in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Chertsey Town.
Having fallen behind to Billy Montague’s first half penalty, the Blues were just starting to build up a head of steam when Brown charged into the Chertsey technical area to retrieve the ball for a throw in and all hell broke loose.
Four red cards were subsequently brandished by referee Christopher Poole as players and coaching staff from both sides pushed, pulled, jostled and were held back in a melee that whipped both them, and the Oak Tree Road crowd, into a frenzy.
Bartley and Brown were both dismissed for their part in the flashpoint, while Chertsey midfielder Quincy Rowe and another member of the visitors’ coaching staff were also shown red cards.
However, Bartley couldn’t quite understand why he was picked out and punished by the referee Poole when plenty of others were guilty of getting involved, and he also insisted he was acting as a peacemaker in pulling one of Chertsey’s coaches away from the scene. He's now waiting to hear if there’ll be further punishment from the FA in the form of a touchline ban when the referee submits his report.
It was harder to excuse away Brown's actions, which ignited the melee and appeared to be deliberately provoke the Chertsey players on the bench, however, Bartley claims the midfielder who’d been substituted into the game early in the second half was blocked from collecting the ball as he sought to get it back into play with the Blues chasing an equaliser.
“As he's going to get the ball, he's shielded and blocked from getting it,” said Bartley.
“Their guys have stepped in front of the ball at the last minute. They’ve closed ranks on him and from that point, one of them has fallen towards the dugout. When it came out the other side, I saw them pulling his hair, others were trying to punch him, and that's the reason I grabbed their coach. Jordan’s just running in to grab the ball and restart the game. If you close ranks on him, you've got to be prepared for what comes. When I saw people pulling his hair, he’s my player, I can’t let that happen. I grabbed their guy and said, ‘look, you can't hit players’.
“But out of all of that, how do you pick who should be sent off? If he’s doing that, then he’s got to send about 10 players off because how has he picked the red cards out of that? At that point, he then becomes selective. Their guy has come off and said the same thing.
“There were 10-15 people involved, how have you selected who you were going to send off? I can’t stand by and let someone hit one of my players, that's just the way it is. I just restrained him, but the referee's decided. I asked him, ‘What are you sending me off for?’ and he just said he’d speak to me afterwards. I haven’t hit anyone or pushed anyone over. As far as I’m concerned, everyone has done the same.”