No Right To Appeal

In the bizarre incident that took place right at the death of Saturday's clash with Bradford City at the Mem, midfielder Wayne Brown was shown a second yellow and a subsequent red card. Manager Mark McGhee, along with opposite number Phil Parkinson, was perplexed as to why the diminutive former Fulham man had been dismissed and cited mistaken identity as his only explanation. It is not clear whether the referee issued a second yellow card for Brown's (small) part in the ensuing melee, or whether he felt it was Wayne who made the initial foul on the Bantams' James Meredith.

It was in fact Seanan Clucas who made that challenge and it seemed inevitable he would be the one facing punishment. However, because the Bradford bench made such a big deal about the tackle both sets of players charged on the scene and began protecting their team-mates. The referee lost control at this point and didn't know who was involved with what - and this may have saved Clucas - but unfortunately Wayne Brown was the man in the wrong place at the wrong time and ultimately given his marching orders. Nathan Doyle was also given a red card for his part in the ruckus although judging by TV footage it's difficult to ascertain what he was supposed to have done.

Bradford have said they will be appealing the straight red that Doyle received but Rovers are in the unfortunate position where they can't do the same for Brown as it was 2 separate cautions that he received. No retrospective action can be taken against Clucas as the original tackle saw him go unpunished.

Wayne Brown wrongly red carded

The Rovers players involved took to Twitter to air their views on it all and it's fair to say Brown was bemused as to why he was singled out for punishment. He stated that he was '10 yards away' from the original foul and didn't take part in the melee except for holding players back. Clucas, who perhaps owes Brown for taking the wrath of the officials, told his midfield team-mate that he should just 'pay the fine' and get on with it. Nothing else has since been said on the matter but it was certainly ridiculous to witness a referee flashing cards to players randomly having not actually seen what had happened. Clucas, the guilty party, went unpunished, whilst Brown and Doyle were dismissed for very little. That's the standard of refereeing in League Two for you.

Brown's one match suspension will see him miss next Saturday's rearranged game with Wycombe at Adams Park, which was controversially abandoned after 67 minutes in August due to lightning when Rovers were 3-1 up.