Millard blasts Sandhurst bench

Reading Evening Post By Ralph Webb wrote: Colin Millard was an angry man despite seeing Reading Town book their place in the semi-finals of the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy at Sandhurst Town last night.Town had striker Ray Spence and defender Michael Hancock sent off in the second half of the 1-0 victory, leaving them to play the final 15 minutes with only nine men.

But Town boss Millard was furious with the decisions to send off his players, and with the attitude of the Sandhurst bench.He said: “We had to battle adversity – a Sandhurst bench which quite frankly behaved in a completely outrageous manner throughout the game and against an officiating team who offered us no protection whatsoever and who got the important decisions totally wrong.”Millard added: “Spence was clearly denied a penalty at the end of the first half. There was no doubt about it, yet the only man who claimed he couldn’t see it was the referee.

“Members of the Sandhurst bench got Spence sent off by their reaction.“The referee couldn’t see the incident, he was too far away, and the linesman only reacted when the Sandhurst bench started screaming and shouting, yet I don’t think he even saw what happened.“To top it all off Hanks’ dismissal was a farce. Referee five yards away from the incident lets play continue; linesman 30-odd yards away says it was two-footed again after the Sandhurst bench start screaming and shouting.

“Complete and utter rubbish. No doubt we will be appealing.” He added: “Certain members of the Sandhurst management need to take a long, hard look at themselves. “If the only way they can win games is by constant pressure on the officials, screaming and shouting at every challenge then they are in for a hard second half of the season. “All I can say is they couldn’t beat us when we had 11, they couldn’t beat us when we had 10 and they couldn’t beat us when we had nine men, so their tactics need looking at.”

Town lost Mark Camp-Overy in the warm-up with a suspected torn calf muscle which meant a reshuffle in a defence already missing Duncan Geraldes.Will Bratt stepped up from the bench, while James Clark also came in for the injured Aaron Parfitt. Despite a bright start from Sandhurst, Town dominated the first half.Sam Flegg headed over from six yards on 15 minutes while James Suarez’s free-kick was comfortably saved by the Sandhurst keeper.

Graham Lewis out-muscled his marker to open the scoring on 30 minutes and it seemed that the floodgates would open as Town started to find gaps all over the Sandhurst defence. Spence tried to chip the keeper from 25 yards despite being clean through on goal and then he put a better chance wide from eight yards moments later.The visitors also felt they were denied a stonewall penalty on the stroke of half-time as Spence was sent tumbling as he tried to round the keeper only for the referee to award a goal kick.

A change in formation by the home side helped them become more competitive in the second half, although Chris Grace was rarely tested.In fact he made one save all night when Danny Wilde shot straight at him from 10 yards on 55 minutes.Flegg missed another golden opportunity on the hour when Hancock’s header dropped at his feet 12 yards from goal, but he blazed over.Spence was then sent for an early bath on 63 minutes when he was adjudged to have stamped on a Sandhurst defender. It was a decision made by a referee who was on the opposite side of the pitch but made easier for him by a reaction from the Sandhurst bench and after a discussion with an assistant referee who had not flagged for a foul.

Despite this, Town were still creating chances and Suarez missed an open goal after Lewis had got to the by-line and cut it back only for the midfielder to fire over from eight yards.Then Hancock got his marching orders on 75 minutes. The big defender stayed on his feet in a block tackle with the referee just five yards away.

Play continued despite further howls from the Sandhurst bench, but the assistant ref again flagged and, after yet another lengthy decision, Hancock was shown a straight red.Despite playing with nine men for the remaining 15 minutes and the additional six minutes of injury time, Town held on comfortably for a deserved win to book their place in the last four.

See tomorrow’s Evening Post for an interview with Reading Town top scorer Graham Lewis.