Powell surprised by Oxley red

Posted Sunday, September 02, 2018 by PA

Southend manager Chris Powell was surprised to see Mark Oxley handed his marching orders alongside two other players in a dramatic finish to the Shrimpers’ 2-1 defeat to Charlton at Roots Hall.

Goalkeeper Oxley and his team-mate Michael Kightly were both dismissed in stoppage time along with Addicks midfielder Tariqe Fosu following a heated fracas between the two teams.

And Powell was shocked to see Oxley dismissed.

“The ref said Mark grabbed their player round the throat,” said Powell.

“He does push him but as we all saw there must have been between 10 and 15 players pushing each other at that moment so to be honest I’m quite surprised he sent Mark off.”

Oxley will now serve a three-match suspension while Kightly will also be banned after clashing with Fosu.

“I’ve seen it again and I’ve spoken to the referee who said Michael kicked the player on the ground,” said Powell.

“I’ve seen it and I think he does a bit of both to be honest.

“It’s a strong tackle from Mike but their player got up and headbutted him.

“My only issue with that red card is the tackle by Darren Pratley in the first half when he was booked.

“The ref said it was cynical but that there was a genuine attempt to get the ball.

“I thought he was nowhere near the ball but the ref makes the decisions and I understand that.”

The late trio of red cards overshadowed a game Charlton shaded to pick up all three points, courtesy of a late header from Krystian Bielik.

Charlton went close to opening the scoring through Patrick Bauer and Nicky Ajose in the first half and also had strong shouts for a penalty waved away when Lewis Page went to ground while under pressure from Stephen McLaughlin.

But, with 57 minutes on the clock, Charlton took the lead when Karlan Grant outmuscled Michael Turner down the right flank and crossed for Lyle Taylor to tap home.

Three minutes later, Southend drew back level when Ben Coker’s left-wing cross was slotted home by Theo Robinson.

However, three minutes from time, Bielik headed home Josh Cullen’s corner to secure victory for the Addicks before the late flurry of red cards.

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer did not get a clear view of the flashpoint.

“It couldn’t have been any further away from where we were,” he said.

“The ref said the man tackled Tariqe knee high and his reaction was a headbutt.

“I haven’t seen it yet but that’s what I was told, but the three points we got were well deserved.

“We came here last season and got beat up.

“We lost 3-1 but we stood up and competed as men this time.

“We’ve got a bit of everything.

“ It’s always hard here but we’ve got a good mixture here.”