Celtic hero Scott Brown has blasted the decision to send off Jayden Stockley during Fleetwood's League One defeat to Bolton.
Brown's side travelled to the University of Bolton Stadium with only pride to play for having already secured a respectable mid-table finish in England's third-tier. While the hosts were battling to cement a promotion play-off spot. A Promise Omochere own-goal gave Bolton a 18 minute lead but Fleetwood created plenty of chances and looked like they could get something from the game until referee Ben Speedie handed Stockley a red card for violent conduct with half an hour to play.
The officials deemed the Cods striker to have caused an infringement off the ball. However the former Celtic captain turned Fleetwood boss was having none of it as Kyle Dempsey's strike went on to ensure a 2-0 defeat on his team. Brown said: “It was a really poor decision; I’ve watched it back and it’s never a sending-off, they are saying he [Jayden Stockley] pulled his [MJ Williams] hair but that’s not what happened when we saw it. The fourth official made that decision for the referee – I don’t want to be talking about them.
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“One poor decision cost us majorly because we had to play the last 30 minutes with 10 men. We had to go two up top and then we lost a second goal, these things happen. It’s poor decisions again and we will be appealing that one because we’ve all just seen that back.”
The one-time Aberdeen striker has bagged three goals and contributed to a further three assists since joining up with Brown at Fleetwood in January. On the match itself, Brown believes his men were showing that they can compete with play-off hopefuls Bolton until Stockley's dismissal.
He continued: "We knew we had to bring our A game here and the lads did that; I thought, until the red card, we were in the game, had a clear game plan, and created a lot of chances, especially in the first half, and we were disappointed to go into the break a goal down.
“We dominated large parts of the game as the game plan was to sit in and, when we did get the ball, we were calm and collected and made some good decisions. As I’ve said, we were disappointed not to have scored before half-time."
Meanwhile Bolton manager Ian Evatt reckons Stockley’s red card was the 'right call'.
“Just before the referee stopped the game, there was a clear and significant hair pull,” expressed Evatt after the match. He just yanked MJ’s hair and everyone could see it. The fourth official saw it but chose not to step in at that stage.
“Then the corner was over and as the player was running past MJ on the way back to his position, he had another little tug and a slap of his head. That time, the fourth official chose to step in. It was a really silly moment from the player, from someone so experienced. Obviously, that helped us in the game but I am pleased that – I believe – the right decision was made.”
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