Ronan Curtis levelled for AFC Wimbledon before being shown a red card minutes later
Manager of AFC Wimbledon Johnnie Jackson was incensed with Ronan Curtis’ dismissal after his team’s top scorer was sent off just after tying the score in a 1-1 draw with Harrogate at Plough Lane.
In the League 2 match on Good Friday, Matty Daly had put Harrogate ahead after eight minutes, and Curtis had tied the score for the Dons just before the hour.
Following a careless challenge by former Derry City forward Curtis, Wimbledon was forced to settle for a point, placing them one point outside of the play-off spots.
Jackson was sure that his team lost a lot of money and that the choice was incorrect.
“The red card was ridiculous,” he declared. He’s from the side, he’s trying to toe poke the ball, he doesn’t have his studs up, and the referee is in the incorrect side.
“The linesman has an excellent vantage point and is not involved in the decision-making process.
It’s perplexing how he’s given that; you have to be positive that’s not aggressive behaviour, major foul play, or whatever term they use for it.
“We probably lose out on the opportunity to continue and get all three points, and it’s difficult to accept a mistake like that from the referee, especially at this point in the season when so much is at stake.
Given what the guys produced in the second half and how we went after it when we had 10, it’s not a depressing point. This year has been crazy, so while it may be a useful point, naturally we wanted all three.
George Thomson set up Daly for the early lead for the Sulphurites, following some excellent work by Jeremy Sivi down the left.
Wimbledon looked toothless in the first half, but in the second half they looked strong, with James Ball and Curtis both coming close.
After Harrogate mishandled a Jake Reeves free-kick, Curtis equalised. Later, he was sent off for a late tackle on Levi Sutton, which Harrogate manager Simon Weaver said was a difficult decision.
“I didn’t think it was; my first thought was that he’s caught him, but not enough for a red,” he remarked.
That was probably not even a foul twenty years ago, or if it was, it wouldn’t have resulted in a yellow card.
“I thought we did really well in the first half; it was fantastic.”away performance.
