Airbus players will pay for bookings

Sep 19 2008 Chester Chronicle

AIRBUS UK Broughton players stepping out of line will be hit in the pocket after boss Craig Harrison lost patience with their indiscipline.

The Wingmakers are rooted to the bottom of the fair play table after having four men sent off and a further 18 booked in their first five league outings.

A number of those cards were dished out for petty offences and Harrison, who saw Mark Cadwallader and Matty Woodward dismissed in Friday’s night 3-0 home defeat to previously winless Porthmadog, believes the only way to curb their petulance is to hand out bigger fines.

Harrison, whose 11th-placed team make the long trip to 12th-placed Haverfordwest tomorrow (2.30pm) before welcoming Rhyl to the Airfield on Tuesday for a Loosemores Challenge Cup Group Five clash (7.30pm), said: “We’ve had a lot of players getting booked and sent off for silly, petulant offences like dissent, foul and abusive language and kicking the ball away. Our chairman had a little word with me on the way home from Llanelli a couple of weeks ago after I got sent to the stands, so for it to happen again on Friday was too much.

“I laid it on the line after the game that it has to stop now because the club does not want to be labelled with a bad reputation and we do not want players out all the time.

“So a few choice words have been said and the lads know exactly where they stand. Fines have tripled for all petulant offences. We’re not messing about.”

Cadwallader was given his marching orders in the 69th minute after a niggly foul brought him a second booking which came moments after his first, a decision Harrison felt was a little harsh. He had no complaints with Woodward’s 84th-minute red card for dissent, however.

Both will be missing tomorrow along with the injured Ashley Williams, Paul Hallows and Jon Slater. Gareth Caughter has an outside chance of being passed fit while Gary Lovell returns from a ban.

Former Chester City youngster Giovanni Feliciello took over Lovell’s left-wingback spot on Friday and produced one of the home side’s better performances.

Airbus have been drawn at home to league rivals Welshpool in the second round of the Welsh Cup.