‘Moment of madness’ costs Baffins dearly in Wessex League defeat at Shaftesbury

Rovers were reduced to 10 men on 56 minutes at Shaftesbury when the former Fleetlands striker was shown a straight red card for violent conduct.

Baffins’ seven-goal joint top scorer had got himself involved in a melee which had broken out following a poor tackle from team-mate Charlie Oakwell, who was booked for his challenge.

The hosts, who had only cancelled out Obi Saidy’s first half goal three minutes earlier, capitalised on their numerical advantage to run out 3-1 winners.

So ended Baffins’ run of seven wins in an eight-game unbeaten run, culminating in last Wednesday’s superb 1-0 Wessex League Cup win at Premier table-toppers AFC Portchester.

‘It was a naughty challenge from Charlie,’ said Baffins boss Danny Thompson. ‘The ball was there to be won, but he went in over the top.

‘You know what it’s like in the Wessex League, players start screaming and getting excited.

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‘Kelvin flung his arm out and got a straight red for violent conduct. That was the turning point in the game - that killed us really.

‘The ref handled it all quite well, but Kelvin’s done what he done and we’re down to 10 men.

‘It was definitely a red card, no complaints from me. It was a moment of madness that ended up costing us the game.

‘We had words with Kelvin after the game. Hopefully he will learn from it.

‘I know Shaftesbury had lost their previous two games (at home to Hamble and US Portsmouth) but they’re still a decent side, and going down to 10 men away from home knocked the stuffing out of us.

‘I wouldn’t say we were in total control (when Robinson was sent off) but we looked relatively comfortable.’

Robinson will now get a three-game suspension, ruling him out of home games against Bournemouth Poppies and Moneyfields and a trip to Laverstock & Ford.

Thompson is hoping captain Jason Parish will have recovered from injury to be available when Robinson’s ban starts next weekend.