Early red card key to Sleaford defeat
Matt Evans felt that an early red card for his Sleaford Town side was key to their 2-1 defeat at Southwell City on Saturday.
Sleaford were reduced to ten men after just 12 minutes, with Taylor Gray receiving his marching orders for two yellow cards in quick succession.
After a scuffle in the sixth minute, a discussion between the referee and linesman concluded that the striker elbowed a Southwell player, resulting in a yellow card.
The second card came shortly after, for Gray lashing out at a defender after feeling he had been fouled.
Southwell went in front with five minutes to go in the first half. A ball came across in the box, originally being parried by Josh Wilson only as far as Jacob Holt, whose shot was composed and drilled into the back of the net.
Southwell doubled their lead with 20 minutes to go. A ball was played through to Akand Gangotra, who placed it past Wilson.
Sleaford managed to get one back in added time from defender Ben Coleman who tapped in from close range to give Sleaford hope, but Southwell held on to take all three points.
Evans told the club’s media: “It’s a tough one to take, with the early sending off like that. We had moments in the first-half where we looked a bit shell-shocked and not sure how to deal with it, but we worked through that and the information from them at half-time was good.
"We performed much better in the second-half and we were more organised, and it makes you wonder whether had it been 11 v 11 in the second-half we’d have got at least a point.
"So it’s frustrating. We got the goal at the end because we kept asking questions and getting the ball forward, and the lads came off the bench to freshen things up, but we came into the game with a few of our leaders missing, but the way the lads applied themselves was good, especially in the second-half.”
Sleaford host Staveley Miners Welfare in more league action on Saturday.