BRIDPORT 2

WELLS CITY 2

BRIDPORT manager Adam Fricker was left infuriated after defender Louis Rutter was sent off for his reaction to allegedly being bitten in his side’s 2-2 draw with Wells City.

Rutter saw red for reacting angrily in the confrontation with the Wells’ substitute striker, who also saw red for the incident.

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Bees, who went into half-time 2-0 down after two defensive errors proved costly.

But Bridport appeared rejuvenated in the second half, and mounted a comeback when Ed Butcher struck an effort from 30 yards which found its way into the bottom corner of the net.

It was 10 minutes from time when both teams were reduced to 10 men for the ‘biting’ incident, an event which saw unsavoury scenes before the Bees got the equaliser, which came in the dying moments when Leigh Bailey finished from eight yards.

Speaking after the game, manager Adam Fricker defended his player, saying he would expect anyone to react in the same way.

He said: “It left quite a nasty mark, and, I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen anything like that in football before.

It was very disappointing from their point of view that a player would do something like that, and to be fair we spoke to the referee after the game and he felt he had no choice but to send Louis off, but I just hope the FA look at it sensibly because if you get bitten you’re going to react.”

Speaking about the game as a whole, Fricker was complimentary with his side’s mentality.

He said: “On reflection, I think a result is a fair result. I don’t think either side deserved to win it.

“It was a battle and a scrap against a very physical side. We were a lot better in the second half and they tired in the final third which allowed us back into the game.

“We’re happy because that’s four points in the last two games, and considering what we’ve been through in the last 10 games we’re happy that we’ve settled down and can move forward.

“We’ve shown this season that we’re always going to score goals but we’ve shown that we’re vulnerable defensively.

“The lad have always had that heart to dig in and they need to take great credit for that, but in previous weeks we wouldn’t have bounced back after going behind so hopefully we can take that forward into the next game and keep growing in confidence.”

Bees: Hutchings, Regan, Condliffe, Hayter, Rutter, Peach, Bailey, Andrews, Butcher, Symes, Salter. Subs: Holland, Hill, Latas