FOOTBALL fans have been left baffled after Halifax player Luke Summerfield was sent off despite being “CLOTHESLINED” by the referee.
The incident took place midway through Halifax’s 1-1 draw with Southend in the National League.
With the ball trickling out of play referee Paul Marsden signalled for a Halfiax throw-in, but his wayward arm appeared to catch Summerfield in the face.
The veteran midfielder, 35, went to push the ref’s arm away and accidentally caught Marsden in the face too, before going down to ground after appearing to have been poked in the eye.
Despite his injury Summerfield received his marching orders, leaving Shaymen boss Chris Millington furious.
He complained after the match: “I just don’t get it. The referee’s probably not helped himself by just going to his pocket immediately, he’s not really given himself any time to make such a big decision.
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“Luke Summerfield was clotheslined by him, he’s been hit in the windpipe and he’s flinched, and the referee thinks that that flinch is an attack on him.
“It’s absolutely clear from the footage I’ve just been shown that it isn’t that.
“We know there’s not a player in this squad who would verbally abuse a referee let alone physically abuse a referee and then when you take it to the next level, Luke Summerfield is the least likely person I’ve ever met to do either of those things.
“The ref’s made a big mistake, and massively impacted the game, but hopefully he’ll learn from it and we won’t experience that when he’s here the next time.”
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Fans were equally confused by the ref’s call with one describing it as the “comfortably one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen”.
Another fan said: “That’s a joke and he shouldn’t referee again this season.”
A third wrote: “Referees are trying to start a civil war this season.”
And another commented: “Worst decision I have seen. Ref needs to stop reffing altogether. Farcial decision.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
