Eaton Socon manager sets the record straight on incident which saw his young player sent off

A manager has leapt to the defence of his young player and rubbished reports he “lost the plot” after being sent off against March Town United Reserves last Saturday.

Eaton Socon boss Richard Argyle said Damian Chamberlain deserved to be sent off for aiming a kick at a March player, but that he had been kicked first and he left the pitch of his own accord.

Eaton Socon, despite going down to 10 men, secured a crucial 1-0 win.

Argyle said: “It was a good, clean match which was hotly contested between two teams battling relegation.

“The incident involved two players coming together who had not heard the ref’s whistle so they continued to play.

“When the March player realised the whistle had gone he tried to grab the ball. When he couldn’t get it he had a little kick out.

“Our player was incensed and kicked the March player off the ball. Of course, he was later rightly sent off.

“At this stage, the linesman ran on to the pitch and grabbed our player around the neck. The player who had been kicked aimed a punch at our player and missed.

“Three of the March players, including the goalkeeper and captain, got involved.

“The referee was going to send off the wrong player but the March player corrected him so the right player was correctly sent off.

“After the game, the referee approached me and asked if he had sent off the right player. I said yes but I was disappointed that he had sent someone off without seeing the incident.

“He said he couldn’t send any March players off because so many got involved that he had no idea who to send off.”