Stockport County boss demands ban for official after player sent off against Doncaster Rovers

Match referee Declan Bourne missed an off-the-ball incident between Rovers’ Tommy Rowe and Southam-Hales, which resulted in the former being struck in the face by his opponent.

But his assistant spotted what happened and the Stockport defender was subsequently red-carded just 21 minutes into the match.

“It was never a red card based on what the linesman’s said he’s seen,” claimed Challinor, whose side slipped to their third defeat in their opening four League Two games.

"He said he’s seen Macca elbow the lad in the face when the lad’s not got hold of him.

"Well, both things, the lad has got hold of him, first off, and it’s certainly not an elbow in the face.

"That’s a huge call to make 20 minutes into a game that results in a decision that ultimately takes away a really good chance of us winning a game of football.”

Doncaster were in the ascendancy for the rest of the evening and eventually made their one-man advantage count in injury time when Kieran Agard scored the winning goal after County’s Ryan Rydel cancelled out George Miller’s opener.

Challinor added: "It’s really easy for them to say ‘move on, we’ve made a mistake’. There needs to be a consequence to it.

"He shouldn’t have a game for a while. If based on what he’s seen is right, our player misses three games.

"He should miss three games for that. What he’s seen is not right. They (officials) need to be culpable for the decisions they make.”