Former Stevenage manager Peter Taylor says referee made the right call, but his player made the wrong one

Gillingham boss Peter Taylor says referee Stuart Attwell made the right decision in sending off Elliott Hewitt for handball.

The Gills right-back stuck out his arm to stop Francois Zoko’s shot from hitting the target with just 22 minutes on the clock, leading to his dismissal.

Zoko subsequently scored from the spot and Boro netted twice more in the 3-1 win, a match, Taylor says, that was made more difficult following his player’s red card.

“[It was a] correct decision by the referee, wrong decision from Elliott,” ex-Boro and Bradford City boss Taylor said.

“I think Elliott should have let it go in, because at that early stage if it goes in then you’ve got time and 11 men to recover.

“It made it a difficult night but the attitude of the players - they kept going so I was impressed with that. We’ve had enough chances – Cody [McDonald, Gills’ scorer] could have had four goals so in that respect I was very proud of them.”