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Droylsden to appeal against FA Cup expulsion

LONDON (AFP) – Hours after Droylsden were expelled Monday from the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player, the non-league club said they would appeal in a bid to get re-instated into the third round.

Last week, Droylsden thought they had won their second-round tie against League Two side Chesterfield at the fourth time of asking after fog, a controversial goal and floodlight failure had foiled three previous attempts to separate the sides.

But it turned out that defender Sean Newton, who scored both their goals in a 2-1 win, was ineligible after collecting his fifth booking of the season on December 9.

According to Football Association (FA) regulations, that meant he was suspended for one match, a ban which should have ruled him out of last Tuesdays fixture.

The FA have ruled Monday that Midlands side Chesterfield, whose fourth-tier status puts them two divisions above Manchester-based Droylsden, will play Ipswich Town of the second-tier Championship in Saturdays third round.

A statement issued by the FA Cup protest sub-committee said: "The Sub-Committee ruled that in playing defender Sean Newton against Chesterfield in The FA Cup second round on Tuesday, December, 23 while the player was under suspension, Droylsden FC had breached FA Cup rules and should be removed from this seasons competition.

"Chesterfield will therefore play at Ipswich Town on Saturday, January 3 in the third round."

Droylsden have until 9am local time (0900GMT) Tuesday to lodge an appeal and chairman and manager Dave Pace said they would be contesting their expulsion at a hearing set to take place on Wednesday.

Pace, who when he first realised Droylsden might be kicked out said he would "throw myself off the nearest bridge" if they were expelled from the competition, told BBC Radio Manchester: "It is ludicrous as we have beaten Chesterfield fair and square on the field.

"It is not as if we have brought a ringer in at the last minute. Sean Newton is one of our players.

"It was a genuine mistake by our secretary. Fine us by all means but dont kick us out."

An unusual exit would be wholly in keeping with the rest of an extraordinary FA Cup tie.

The original encounter was abandoned at half-time for fog with Droylsden leading 1-0.

But that was as nothing compared to the events 12 minutes from time in the second encounter at Chesterfield Saltergate ground.

That game was all square at 1-1 in the 78th minute when Droylsden put the ball into touch deliberately following an injury to Chesterfields Carl Lamb.

But, after Lamb got back on his feet, the ball was thrown to Jack Lester who, instead of just passing back to the Droylsden goalkeeper, as is the convention in such circumstances, lobbed Craig Mawson for a goal.

Chaotic scenes ensued with rival players squaring up to one another and stewards having to intervene to prevent a confrontation between the rival benches on the touchline.

However, when the game got underway again Chesterfield, seemingly embarrassed by Lesters goal, allowed Droylsdens Steve Halford to run through unopposed from the kick-off to make it 2-2, which is how the match ended.

And the next attempt at settling the tie also failed to produce a winner when a match at Droylsdens ground was abandoned when, with Chesterfield leading 2-0 and under 20 minutes left to play, the floodlights went out.

Written by: AFP

Tags: AFP, attempts, bbc radio, bridge, Carl Lamb, Committee, competition, controversial goal, Craig Mawson, Dave Pace, December, expulsion, FA Cup, floodlight failure, fog, football association, ineligible player, jack lester, last minute, local time, london, Manchester, Midlands, newton, pace, protest, ringer, saturdays, Sean Newton, Steve Halford

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