Ballymena United have been thrown into a selection crisis following Jordan Williamson's late dismissal against Larne on Friday evening.
The Sky Blues goalkeeper was sent off in additional time at Inver Park after hauling down Mark Randall on the halfway line.
The Ballymena stopper had gone up for a late free kick in a bid to try and rescue a point for the visitors but they were caught on the break by Randall before Williamson intervened.
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The keeper was shown a straight red but the sending off will have far reaching implications for the club as it was deemed violent conduct or use of excessive force by the officials, which carries a three-game ban.
That means Williamson will miss next Saturday's crucial league game with Glenavon as well as the Irish Cup semi-final against Larne the following week.
And with fellow senior goalkeeper Sean O'Neill still unavailable due to injury teenager Marcus Thompson is their only available keeper at present.
"Sean is not close to a return so that leaves us with Marcus, who is a 16-year-old boy," said boss David Jeffrey.
"Obviously it didn't have any impact tonight, but it's the impact on the club for the next three games.
"These are massive decisions which impact clubs in a serious way.
"I've been on record saying I wouldn't be a referee for a pension.
"But the bottom line is these boys are well paid and you're asking them to do a job and hit a standard.
"It's a game of opinions, I was told Jordan wasn't sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity, it was for violent conduct or excessive force.
"Mark Randall to his absolute credit got up very quickly, if it had been excessive force or whatever else why is Mark Randall back on his feet.
"You can only appeal to officials to look at it again but as I understand it the assessor is happy with the decision and the referee is happy with the decision. If that's the case then that's the case and we're just fallen foul.
"If that comes into the category of violent conduct then there's something seriously wrong."
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