Lincoln boss to appeal Ellis Chapman’s red card
Posted Sunday, October 21, 2018 by PA
Danny Cowley vowed to appeal Ellis Chapman’s contentious red card after his Lincoln side were held to a 1-1 draw by Cambridge.
The 17-year-old midfielder was controversially sent off for a challenge on Gary Deegan after 20 minutes.
The players went for a 50-50 challenge which saw the teenager catch the U’s man slightly late. Referee Lee Collins immediately brandished a red card, leaving them with 10 men for 70 minutes.
By that point it was 1-1 after Matt Rhead’s headed opener after six minutes had been cancelled out by Jevani Brown’s stunning equaliser five minutes later.
Cowley felt the decision ruined what was shaping up to be a really good game.
“It wasn’t, was it? It was arguably a booking,” said Cowley, who felt the official should have taken more time over the decision.
“There was limited force, he was just trying to make a pass and he caught him.
“It’s the way that the referee reached the decision, the red card has come out on complete impulse.
“He’s got just one view, he’s got a linesman and fourth official within 10 metres and he flashes the red card without considering their opinion.
“In any walk of life you don’t make good decisions under impulse, that’s for sure.
“We haven’t got VAR at this level, but we’ve got two other qualified officials. They’re called assistant referees rather than linesman because they’re meant to be assisting the referee.
“I’m sure, if he’d spoken to them, they would have realised it wasn’t the right decision. We’ve got to get these decisions right.
“I feel really sorry for the supporters. We had over 9,000 supporters there. What was going to be a really good game – a great advert for League Two – was completely spoiled.
“We’ll appeal it and we’ll probably get off – that’s fine – but it’s still potentially cost us two points because we were playing well and were in a really good place to win that game.
“And I feel really sorry for Ellis. He’s a 17-year-old kid who’s going to be a top player. It was his second league start of his career.
“I spoke to him last night (Friday) and he was so looking forward to the game. For it to be taken away from him the way it was was really harsh and really unfair. It’s incredibly frustrating.
“He’s got no reason to be down because you can only control the controllables – and that one wasn’t in his control. He’s done nothing wrong.
“I’ve spoken to their manager (Joe Dunne) and their captain, who was involved in the tackle, and they couldn’t believe it was a sending off.
“And they said they were willing to help us with the appeal, which is very good of them.”
Dunne said: “I didn’t think there was too much in it. I’ll have a look at it again but I didn’t think there was a lot there.”
Despite playing for 70 minutes against 10 men, Dunne was still pleased with the point against a side he believes will go on and win the league.
“We have to take this in perspective,” he said. “Lincoln with 10 men could beat a lot of teams in this league. They’re a very good side. Sometimes (playing against 10 men), it’s harder.
“Did we do the right things with 10 men? I think we did, we moved the ball and got into goalscoring positions. We probably lacked the final touch.
“I’m not going to say it’s not a good point because, in the circumstances, it is.
“We tried to do all we could against a team who are top of the league and will probably win the league.
“It’s a difficult place to come and the crowd were amazing for Lincoln, but my team deserve a bit a credit too, even though we had 11 men.
“I’m going to give my players a lot of credit for taking a point. I think it was deserved.
“I bet everyone who had a bet on us to lose by four or five goals were rubbing their hands, but we showed a lot of character.”
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