Sligo Rovers won’t be appealing the four-match ban dished out to forward Ronan Murray for throwing a ball at a referee.
The Bit O’Red attacker was shown a straight red after catching whistler Derek Tomney in Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Bohemians.
Murray was penalised for diving and frustration got the better of him. Kneeling on the edge of the box, he threw the ball at Tomney.
Rovers boss Liam Buckley told Mirror Sport last night: “It was a petulant throw more than a violent throw. It was not an act of aggression, really.
“It was a stupid one and Ronan apologised to the referee afterwards. The rules have changed this season and we were all made aware of it before the season started.”
But Buckley is surprised at the severity of the ban which rules Murray out of tonight’s Dundalk game and matches against Waterford, St Pat’s and Cork City.
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Buckley added: “To get four games for that? I’ve seen an awful lot of tackles that would deserve more.
“Referees are held in high respect in this league but I’m still disappointed that it merits four games. We’ll all move on.”
Last week, St Pat’s striker Mikey Drennan was slapped with a three match ban for dissent towards a referee.
In February, the FAI said it was adopting a new zero tolerance approach in an attempt to protect match officials.
Managers and captains of all clubs were briefed on the new changes before the start of the season and yesterday St Pat’s accepted as much.
Among the other sanctions approved at that FAI EGM were 12-game bans for players or managers who “deliberately place a hand on or brush against” a match official.
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