Cumbernauld Colts boss blasts ref for errors in cup exit as he claims official 'admitted red card was wrong'

The Broadwood side crashed out of the Scottish Cup and Doyle was left fuming at some of the decisions that went against his side

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Cumbernauld Colts boss John Doyle has blasted referee David Alexander for a litany of errors which he claims saw him wrongly sent off and his side denied a stonewall penalty during their Scottish Cup exit to Bonnyrigg Rose.

The Lowland League sides clashed at Broadwood on Saturday and it was the visitors who progressed, claiming a 2-0 win.

But Doyle is furious with the whistler’s performance after he claims Josh Jack was clearly fouled in the box seconds before Rose grabbed their second goal.

And the gaffer was further infuriated late on after being shown a second yellow card and sent off, despite claims he never received an initial booking earlier in the game.

The bemused Broadwood boss said: “We just don’t seem to be getting the big decisions at the moment. We had a penalty claim that looked like an obvious one.

“Josh Jack was pushed in the back, as clear as day. It was just so obvious and it wasn’t even a difficult decision.

“I can just tell by the reaction of my players that it was a penalty. My players don’t shout for enough decisions for my liking, but you could see them all around the referee because they knew it is a penalty.

“The referee is in a great position but doesn’t give it, which is very frustrating because a lot of decisions were going Bonnyrigg’s way.

“Thirty seconds later the game is over. They go up the park and make it 2-0 with an own goal.

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“At a moment when you feel you are in the ascendancy and should have a penalty, all of a sudden you are 2-0 down and the game is lost.

“You feel really hard done by. That sucked the life out of us.

“We got frustrated by some more decisions and I ended up getting sent off.

“The crazy part about it is the referee showed me a second yellow card and I hadn’t even been booked beforehand.

“There was an incident where one of their players shoved one of ours and we got irate.

“I explained to the referee that I hadn’t received a first yellow card.

“The referee admitted afterwards that he had made an error but wasn’t prepared to change it.

“The committee and I went to him after the game. He said he hadn’t communicated it was me in the first half [who got booked], but considering I wasn’t anywhere near the incident in the first half and the linesman had pointed clearly to my member of staff who was then booked, why would I think it was me?

“So the referee has made a mistake and wasn’t prepared to change it.

“There was an observer in speaking to the referee afterwards, so I am hoping they can find some common sense here and realise that he has made a mistake.

“I’m not sure if I miss the next game in the competition next season or the next league game yet. We just need to lick our wounds and go again.

“It is disappointing to go out in the cup because the club needs these finances.”