Long bemoans sin-bin decision which helped end Wisbech Rugby Club’s Twickenham dream
RUGBY club captain Tom Long has spoken of his frustration at the refereeing decision which helped send Wisbech crashing out of the Junior Vase.
Long, playing in only his second game since returning from a broken thumb, was yellow-carded after 15 minutes of his side’s quarter-final trip to London Exiles on Saturday.
And the hosts exploited the centre’s 10 minutes in the sin bin, scoring two tries and a conversion to give themselves an early 12-0 lead.
Although Solomon Prestidge’s converted try and Mark Laws’ two penalties got the visitors close, the Exiles held on for a 19-13 victory which ends Wisbech’s dream of a Twickenham final.
Long said: “I hate to say it because it sounds like sour grapes but the referee could have made the difference. Some of the decisions didn’t go our way.
“The yellow card was for using hands in the ruck and it was a 50/50 decision. At the time I thought fair enough, but the more I thought about it the more it seemed like the referee was trying to stamp his mark on the game.
“Towards the end we were camped in their half and they consistently infringed inside their 22. We had four or five penalties - but there was no yellow card.
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“If we’d have got a bounce of the ball or a couple more decisions then it could have been us going through.”
Promotion-chasing Wisbech sit second in Greene King Eastern Counties Division One, three points behind leaders Cantabrigian.
Long said: “The immediate reaction after the game was to refocus our attention on winning the league.
“The crowning glory for us now would be to overtake Cantabs and win it. Our game against them will be our cup final.”
Wisbech travel to Harwich & Dovercourt on Saturday.
