Captain David Artell shared fans frustrations at Saturday’s referee Stuart Attwell.
The ‘Premier League’ ref had made the step down to League Two after coming under fire for his sending off of Bolton’s Gary Cahill two weeks ago.
It was however far from a Premier League performance as Attwell incensed Alex fans from the word go. Whilst a two footed tackle probably had to see Shaun Miller see red, what followed was a show of incompetence from Attwell.
At least two clear penalties were turned away by the referee, one foul on Byron Moore was given as a free kick despite taking place a couple of foot inside the area.
Two other bizarre incidents included the bookings of Nick Powell & Artell, both for ‘dissent’. Nick’s crime was, according to his Twitter account, shouting ‘Oi!’ after Attwell seemed to ignore when Matt Tubbs shoved Powell in the chest.
It some sense, it all played a part in the Alex’s performance as we more than ‘held on’ against league leaders Crawley. It could and probably should have been an Alex victory with Attwell causing the, visibly annoyed, players to rally to ensure they wouldn’t be defeated.
David Artell said post match that the Alex players wore the shirt with pride whilst Attwell was seeking to be centre of attention. Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke:
After the way the match went, it felt like a win to be honest.
‘I said to Uriah Rennie (referee assessor), it seems Attwell wants to be centre of attention.
‘When he’s made a slightly contentious decision against the home team, he needs to get out of the limelight a little bit.’
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