derek.bish@haverhillecho.com
HAVERHILL Rovers’ captain Marcus Hunt was distraught after receiving the first red card of his career at Woodbridge Town on Saturday – and insisted he was innocent.
The Reds were already down to ten men and tra
iling 2-1 when Hunt was given his marching orders for an alleged stamp on Town goalkeeper Paul Beal.
That ended any chance of a first away success of the season for Haverhill, who are now nine points adrift of the safety line after crashing to a 3-1 defeat against second-bottom Town.
“I’m totally gutted,” said Hunt. “I’ve never been sent off before, even in youth or Sunday football.
“I must have played nearly 1,000 games of football and then this.
“I’ve turned round, the keeper has rolled in front of me, I’ve done my best to jump over him and I just accidentally caught him.
“When someone rolls in front of you and you are in mid-air it’s hard to avoid them.
“He rolled around and screamed, but for the ref to then send me off, I was in shock.
“These things happen and go against you when you’re down the bottom – even with Sam Holmes’ sending off, the ball seemed to hit him on the shoulder not the arm.”
Hunt was also a little disappointed that Woodbridge’s equaliser wasn’t ruled out for a foul on Rovers goalkeeper Ed Campbell.
“It did look like Ed was impeded,” he said. “Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t.”
The defeat to second-bottom Woodbridge left Rovers stranded at the foot of the table with 12 points, while Woodbridge moved up to 20 –victory for Rovers meant they would have had 15 and Woodbridge 17.
But despite the setbacks, Hunt is targeting victory in the next two games, against fellow strugglers Ely City and Wivenhoe Town.
“It was a big blow and everyone is down with the defeat and the manner of it,” said the 28-year-old. “But we are a confident bunch of lads and have a good team spirit so hopefully we can get wins against Ely and Wivenhoe.
“We were targeting seven points from these three games but now we have to make sure we get six from the next two and with a big crowd on Friday we can do it.”
Marcus Hunt trudges off after being red-carded against Woodbridge Town on Saturday.
H0902-12-014 Picture by Robert Parr
www.photostoday.co.uk
