Johnnie Jackson was left fuming at Ronan Curtis’ sending off after AFC Wimbledon’s goal-scorer was given his marching orders moments after equalising in a 1-1 draw with Harrogate at Plough Lane.
Matty Daly had given Harrogate the lead after eight minutes, with Curtis levelling for the Dons just before the hour.
He was then shown a red card for a reckless challenge, with Wimbledon having to settle for a point, leaving them one point outside the play-off places.
Jackson was adamant that decision was both wrong, and cost his side dear.
He said: “The red card was ridiculous. He’s not got his studs up, he’s trying to toe poke the ball, he’s from the side and the referee’s on the wrong side.
“The linesman has got a great view of it and he’s not been involved in the decision process.
“It baffles how he’s given that – you’ve got to be absolutely certain that’s violent conduct, or serious foul play or whatever they call it, and it’s not.
“It probably robs us of the chance of going on and getting all three (points) and for a referee to have made a call like that and at this stage of the season where there’s so much riding on it, is a tough one to swallow.
“It’s not a disappointing point as in what the lads produced in the second half and the way we went for it when we had 10. It’s a mad year this year and that might be a valuable point but of course we wanted all three.”
The Sulphurites hit the front early as George Thomson teed up Daly after nice work down the left by Jeremy Sivi.
Having looked toothless in the first half, Wimbledon turned things around in the second, Curtis and James Ball both going close.
Curtis equalised after Harrogate failed to deal with a Jake Reeves free-kick before he was dismissed for a late tackle on Levi Sutton, which Harrogate manager Simon Weaver admitted was a tough call.
He said: “I didn’t think it was, my instinctive reaction was that he’s caught him but not enough for a red.
“Twenty years ago that probably isn’t even a foul or maybe a foul, but not a yellow card.
“First half I thought we were excellent, it was a great away performance.
“We dug in when we had to, we looked organised and sharp on the ball. But second half, I don’t know if it was just my perspective, but it seemed to blow a bit more of a gale and we didn’t settle on the ball as well, especially when we’re into that position where we’re favourites when they went down to 10 men.
On Harrogate’s play-off ambitions, he added: “You’ve got to be a dreamer to be in this game. It’s about trying to keep the dream alive for as long as possible and we’re in a position that most people probably didn’t expect us to be.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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