Hellenic League

Premier Division

Bracknell Town.....3

Lydney Town........0

LYDNEY Town manager Mark Lee said his team’s game plan at the league leaders went out of the window thanks to a controversial early sending off.

Pete Macklin, playing at centre-half, was shown a red card by the match referee within the first half an hour of the encounter for a perceived foul.

And the punishment was doubled with a penalty awarded to hosts Bracknell.

“We went there with a game plan; they’re flying at the top of the league but we’d played them previously and knew what to expect,” Lee said.

“But 30 minutes in a long ball goes over the top, Pete Macklin clearly wins the ball but the referee gives a penalty and sends him off.

“Shortly after that they score with a goal from the edge of the area and it’s an uphill battle from there with 10 men.

“The plan was to put 11 players behind the ball and try to catch them on the break.

“We had Lewis Bamford on loan from Cinderford Town who led the line well but we went out for the second half and make a game of it.

“The trouble is if you go for it with 10 men against 11 you are likely to get punished.”

Seb Bowman netted the controversial spot-kick to open the scoring before the aforementioned strike from full-back Johnny Gray.

The 248-strong attendance saw Bracknell put the game beyond doubt in the second half with a third from TJ Bohane.

The numbers were levelled when Carl Davies was sent off for a second bookable offence, but Rich Thomas and the returning Jack Rutter were both booked for Lydney.

“They are really well organised and have two very good wide men,” Lee remarked of the Hellenic League’s top team.

“They’ve got a centre forward who has been in the top of the goal-scoring charts in the Premier Division for five or six years and a pair of very good centre-halves.

“They’ve got a good setup with a 3G pitch, which isn’t something I necessarily agree with. If you’re playing on that regularly you’ll have an advantage over other teams. They’re well equipped to go up.”