GARETH Ainsworth felt referee Darren Deadman was correct to send off Carl Magnay late on in Wanderers’ 2-1 victory over Hartlepool on Saturday but wasn’t sure if the visitors should have been reduced to nine men.

Having got United back on terms towards the end of the first half, Magnay was shown a straight red card four minutes from the end of normal time following an off-the-ball tussle with Ryan Sellers in which the Hartlepool right-back grabbed the Wycombe substitute by the throat. The incident became more unsavoury when Magnay spat in the direction of some home fans as he headed for the tunnel.

Down to ten men for the closing stages, Ronnie Moore’s men could have finished the game with nine when substitute Kudus Oyenuga ploughed through the back of an opponent seeking to shield the ball to run the clock down in injury time. On this occasion though, Deadman decided a yellow card would suffice.

Asked about the decisions after the game, Ainsworth said: “I think it is a red card. You can’t grab someone around the throat and the head nowadays and stop them going through. I thought the referee got that one correct, the fourth official did his job there.

“The tackle is a dodgy one. It’s from behind, it’s been in the past said it’s a red card but, looking at it again, I don’t know if he got some of the ball. It got a little bit unsavoury.”

Tempers had almost boiled over earlier in the second half when Max Kretzschmar went down under a challenge from goalkeeper Adam Bartlett, who was trying to retrieve the ball. Some of the Hartlepool players felt the Wanderers substitute was looking for a penalty and some scuffling ensued before order was finally restored

“There may have been a penalty,” Ainsworth continued. “I think the goalkeeper did trip somebody up but the Hartlepool defenders shouldn’t take the law into their own hands. The referee should deal with it in my opinion.

“It’s hard because passions are high and people want to win and they’re young men, they are very young men, but I would hate my players to react to anything and get in trouble. That’s what we’re trying to teach them not to do, although give everything on the other side of the coin. It’s a difficult balancing act.”