Nantwich Town boss Phil Parkinson has defended one his star players who was sent off for allegedly spitting at an opponent.
Matty Kosylo was red-carded against Kidsgrove Athletic just minutes after completing his hat-trick.
The sending off did not alter the result, as Nantwich ran out comfortable 4-2 winners in the pre-season clash.
But Parkinson believes the referee may have got it wrong over Kosylo’s dismissal.
The Dabbers manager said: “I’m very disappointed with his sending off.
“There has been some confusion, Matt isn’t a player who would spit at someone.
“He has probably puffed his cheeks out and with the rain being so heavy it looks like he might have spat.
“But I think had he spat, there would have been an absolute riot on the pitch – that kind of thing is not acceptable in the game.
“I thought the referee was poor. He let a lot go, I was a bit disappointed with that.
“There were times when really poor tackles were going in, and if that were one of my players I would have been bringing him off.
“At the end of the day, it’s a friendly and you don’t want injuries.
“I’m not saying not to tackle. But some were silly and late.
“That is because they are stretching for the ball at times, but it risks our players getting injuries before the start of the season.
“That is something you have got to deal with as part of football, poor referee decisions and opposition pushing maybe the boundaries a little bit. But overall happy with the result.”
Parkinson believes the game was good preparation for his side, who now face two trips to Wincham Park in Northwich to complete their pre-season campaign.
He said: “It was a really competitive game, Kidsgrove gave it everything as I expected them to.
“ Full-bloodied tackles going in, playing at a decent tempo.
“But overall I think our lads controlled the game. We kept the ball really well and their two goals were mistakes by us, really.
“The first goal was a poor mistake by Jon Moran. He telegraphed his pass and they have gone on to score.
“The second one, Krystian has flapped at it a bit and the trialist, who we had at right back, hasn’t picked his man.
“But in general I thought we were the better team on the day. I thought we did well considering we played half the game with 10 men.”
Nantwich make the trip to Witton Albion’s Wincham Park tomorrow (Tuesday August 4) as they face Northwich Victoria, kick off is at 7.45pm.
And on Saturday, they return to the same ground this time to face Witton Albion in the final pre-season game, kick off 3pm.
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