By Paul Jones
Steve Morison has admitted he is not holding out much hope of success for Cardiff’s City appeal against the red card shown to Aden Flint.
Bluebirds manager Morison has confirmed the club will try to reverse the decision to send off Flint at the end of the tempestuous 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Two red cards were shown at the final whistle as tempers boiled over at the end at The Hawthorns.
West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and Cardiff defender Flint were dismissed at full-time after a melee involving most of the players, following an alleged push from Cardiff’s Marlon Pack on Conor Townsend in the Bluebirds’ penalty area which referee Thomas Bramall decided was not worth a spot-kick.
The mass confrontation seemed to be sparked by Albion head coach Valerien Ismael marching onto the pitch, which preceded the latter two dismissals.
Cardiff say they will appeal the decision, although with both players involved in a wrestling match and the guidance to officials stating raising your hands onto an opponent is a red card offence, it is hard to see much chance of success.
“It was all caused by them having a stonewall penalty and the referee not giving it,” said Morison.
Happy new year to everyone except Aden Flint.
— thomas 🦢 (@scfcthomas) January 1, 2022
“We were thankful he didn’t give it, but as for the two sendings-off at the end, I think they grabbed each other to stop the other doing what they were going to do.
“Nothing happened – that happens all the time in a game.
“I will appeal it – as I’m sure they will – but I’m sure the powers that be will overturn it as they tend to back the referee. Hopefully, we don’t lose Aden Flint and common sense will prevail.”
West Brom manager Ismael said: “It’s a clear penalty – I can’t say anything else, it’s a penalty.
“We can’t change anything now. It’s frustrating – at some point you need the luck that the referee does his job.
“It was not only the penalty decision – some decisions were for us, some against us – in my opinion it was a poor refereeing performance.
“I just wanted to tell him I couldn’t understand why he didn’t give the penalty. The situation came and my emotion was high because it was at the end of the game, but I came down quickly.”
The result has widened the gap between Cardiff and the relegation zone by a single point, but they are still only four points clear of danger.
Callum Robinson cancelled out James Collins’ 34th-minute opener to earn Albion a point, but the scoring was overshadowed by disciplinary incidents.
It got heated at The Hawthorns 👀
A last-minute penalty decision, a furious manager and two red cards… 🟥#EFLonQuest #EFL @WBA #WBA @CardiffCityFC #CardiffCity
Stream free on demand with @discoveryplusUK: https://t.co/5BVoLl5xim pic.twitter.com/LkcVtRSrpG
— Quest (@QuestTV) January 2, 2022
The Baggies had already had midfielder Alex Mowatt sent off as their stuttering form in the Sky Bet Championship extended to three games without a win.
Albion had missed two early chances to take the lead. Karlan Grant cut inside from the left and crashed a fierce, low drive wide of the far post and Robinson went even closer with a superb curling shot that was met by an equally fine one-handed save from goalkeeper Alex Smithies.
Cardiff’s first threat came in the 34th minute – and within seconds, they took the lead.
Joe Ralls’ stabbed effort deflected just wide off Matt Clarke after Cedric Kipre headed away a long throw-in, but Collins beat Clarke to meet the resulting corner swung in by Ralls with a glancing header past Johnstone.
The Baggies equalised in the 48th minute. Grant produced a superb reverse pass to pick out Robinson, who kept his cool to beat Smithies with a left-footed finish.
