Banks o’ Dee co-manager Josh Winton has labelled the ruling Kane Winton bit – or tried to bite – Formartine United’s Matthew McLean “ridiculous”, saying the club will likely appeal their captain’s dismissal.
Dee skipper Winton was sent off by referee Filippo Mazzoni 15 minutes before the end of the Aberdeen side’s 2-0 Breedon Highland League defeat at North Lodge Park.
The midfielder tangled with United defender near the Formartine byeline, and following consultation with his near-side linesman, who it is understood is the one who seen the alleged bite aimed at McLean, Winton was shown a straight red card.
Reacting to the incident, the Dee co-boss – the player’s brother – said: “That’s what the lino’s saying. He’s made a pretty strong accusation, so we’ll need to see what the fallout from that is.”
Asked whether Dee plan to appeal, Josh Winton added: “I’d like to think so. The general consensus among both sets of players was it was a pretty ridiculous shout, so we’ll see.”
Formartine manager Stuart Anderson was not willing to discuss the flashpoint following his side’s ultimately comfortable win – courtesy on early goal from Julian Wade, and sumptuous strike from Mark Gallagher soon after half-time.
The victory keeps up third-placed United’s unbeaten start to 2023, and Anderson said: “I think the game swung. They had good spells, we had good spells.
“But a corner we’ve worked on came off (for Wade’s goal). You’re delighted when you see that.
“Then Mark right after half-time’s hit a really good strike and thankfully it’s went in.”
United took the lead with 10 minutes played – a Gallagher corner from the left finding Wade, who headed off his own shoulder at the near post, with the ball ricocheting into the top corner beyond the helpless Andy Shearer.
Formartine dominated the early part of the game, and it took until the 25th minute for Dee to register a meaningful effort on goal, when Kane Winton was first to a loose ball 18 yards out, lashing it by the right post.
Dee had grown into the contest after conceding, and McLean had to move smartly to get in front of a close-range Magnus Watson effort deflecting it out for a corner.
However, it was Formartine who looked set to add to their lead on 33 minutes, when Wade rose to power a header towards goal from Gallagher’s cross from the left – only for Dee keeper Shearer to make a great stop.
It looked a timely save when United goalie Ewen Macdonald wiped out Winton in the box moments later – it was a needless act, as Winton had taken a heavy touch when breaking into the area, with the ball looking like it would run out for a goal-kick.
Many at North Lodge Park had accepted an equaliser was coming when their former player, veteran forward Neil Gauld – closing in on 400 senior goals – stepped up to take the resultant penalty. But Macdonald dived full stretch to his left to turn the ball round the post and make amends for his error.
Dee had plenty of the ball towards the end of the first period.
However, on 51 minutes, Formartine went 2-0 in front when Gallagher curled an exquisite effort beyond a rooted Shearer and into the right bottom corner from 20 yards.
This cushion gave the home side even more licence to sit in and manage the game, and allowed them to let Dee continue to have plenty of possession for much of the second period.
Anderson added: “Something we’ve spoken about with the players at times is we need to manage games better – they did that tonight and took the sting out of the game.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game. They’re a team who have gone to hard venues in the last couple of weeks a won, so they were on form like ourselves.
“So we’re delighted to get the win.”
Josh Winton accepted conceding a second goal so soon after half-time and, earlier, failing to get their chance to level from the spot was what cost 13th-placed Dee, saying: “We spoke at half-time about how we didn’t have to go and try to win early in the second half.
“We had to try to keep our shape and be disciplined, and there’s an initial poor header and then we’ve just not pressed the shot.
“It was disappointing, but we can learn from it.
“The penalty in the first half was a killer blow. The keeper’s done well, but that probably gets us back in the game at a good time.”
Banks o’ Dee’s next outing is a home game with Brora Rangers on Saturday, while United are next in action on April 1, when Deveronvale visit North Lodge Park.
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