DARLINGTON manager Martin Gray has resolved his differences with the referee responsible for Chris Hunter’s red card on Monday, but Quakers will not be appealing the dismissal.

The defender was sent off during the second half of the 1-1 draw at Ilkeston, one of a handful of decisions that angered Gray.

He has since spoken with Monday’s referee, Mark Howes of Solihull, and while the whistle-blower stopped short of admitting he was wrong to red-card Hunter, Quakers’ manager claims he did admit Jonathan Edwards should have been punished for an incident which resulted in Alan White leaving the field with a head wound.

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The lkeston substitute and Darlington defender collided when competing for a high ball, resulting in White requiring stitches during a lengthy stoppage.

“I spoke to the referee on the phone on Wednesday, we watched the highlights online and there were two or three things that really jumped out,” said Gray.

“We had a good ten-minute talk and he held his hands up and said the linesman should’ve helped him out with the Alan White incident, the linesman was at a great angle to see it but didn’t do anything.

“He played on for 22 seconds despite there being a head injury – when was he going to stop the game? Alan wasn’t rolling around on the floor because he’s a 39-year-old former pro, he’s not some kid.”

However, on watching the game on DVD again, Gray has altered his view of Ilkston’s penalty, awarded after a Leon Scott foul.

He said: “It was possibly a penalty. Looking at it again, their player left his body in enough for Leon to catch him and if it had been the other way around I would’ve been screaming for a penalty. So I’ll go with that one, but the Chris Hunter one was not reckless. He admitted that he had maybe got that one wrong.”

Soon after Terry Galbraith had equalised Hunter saw red, a moment which changed Darlington’s approach to the game and the ten men did well to earn a point.

“He didn’t send him for being the last man, he sent him off for a reckless challenge, but it wasn’t reckless,” said Gray, who believes the conversation with Howes was productive.

“It was a booking at the most. He came from the side and he might’ve missed the ball, but it wasn’t reckless, it was mistimed.

“I’ve done it once or twice before, I’ve rang referees up and chewed the fat, and no doubt I’ll do it again.

“You’ve got to work with them. It was a civil conversation, it was polite, and you to have a relationship with them because no doubt we’ll have him again sometime.”

Hunter will serve a three-match ban, which starts on October 5 so he is eligible for tomorrow’s game at Ramsbottom United.

Graeme Armstrong will be available tomorrow after recovering from illness, while Lewis Gibbons is also in the squad having overcome a back problem. However, Adam Nowakowski remains sidelined.

Ryan Brobbel has been on trial at a club in Scotland and will not be available tomorrow.

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