Former Premier League referee, Chris Foy has discussed Wrexham and Will Boyle following his red card against Newport County this weekend.
This weekend was certainly a disappointment for Wrexham as they fell to a 1-0 derby day defeat against Newport.
On the day, Phil Parkinson’s side were dominated pretty much from start to finish and failed to create any clear-cut chances.
On the flip side, the home side created plenty of opportunities and in the end, only one had to count to win the game.
The game turned on a moment early on as Will Boyle was sent off for a lunging challenge in the 18th minute. This saw the Reds be down to ten men for over 70 minutes worth of action in the end.
There were some complaints from within the Wrexham fan base regarding the decision to send off the defender. Now former Premier League referee, Chris Foy has discussed the decision.
Chris Foy makes Will Boyle opinion clear
After many minutes of thought and discussion, the referee on the day opted to give Boyle his marching orders. This decision wasn’t agreed with by plenty of fans.
Now speaking to Sky Sports, Chris Foy has passed his opinion as a former referee at the very top level in the past.
He first said: “For me, this one meets the criteria for serious foul play and therefore a red card, as the action by Wrexham’s No 25 endangers an opponent here.
“Even though the Wrexham player plays the ball, his follow-through results in high and forceful contact on his opponent from a straight leg. The opponent was always in front of the Wrexham player and following through in such a way was correctly identified as serious foul play.”
As many fans and neutral supporters pointed towards, the follow-through of Boyle is certainly the problematic part. The initial tackle is great, but the next part is dangerous. With that being said, it becomes a much more clear-cut decision when you take this factor into account.
Continuing, Foy added: “When observing the incident, I do believe the referee could have perhaps created a better angle for himself to see the incident more clearly, however through effective teamwork with the assistant referee, a correct decision has been made.”
With that, it appears that the decision was correct from the point of view of a neutral party reviewing the decision. It was a frustrating moment for the Reds but there can’t be any real complaints.