Notts County midfielder Ollie Norburn was shown one of the most bizarre red cards of the season after being given his marching orders for throwing his opponent’s boot off the pitch.
Norburn was shown a yellow card just nine minutes into the contest for a bad foul, leaving him walking a tightrope that he would fall off just 10 minutes later following his challenge on Armando Dobra.
His tackle on the Chesterfield man was not what the referee took issue, actually waving away Dobra’s appeals whose boot had come off as a result.
But in a baffling move as the Magpies were coming away with the ball, Norburn picked up the loose pink boot and chucked it off the pitch, beyond the right sideline.
The referee, after taking a moment to register in his head exactly what had happened, blew his whistle and immediately showed Norburn a second yellow.
“Very, very silly,” pundit Michael Dawson said on Sky Sports. “It’s petty stuff, things you’d see in a playground! His boot’s come off from the tackle and he’s picked it up and just throws it away.
“Second yellow card and an early shower for you, Ollie Norburn.”
Former referee Mike Dean added: “It’s just absolute madness. I’ve never seen that before to be honest.”
The sending off added to the nightmare start Notts County had endured at Meadow Lane, having fallen behind to a 16th-minute strike from Dobra.
They went on to equalise through an own goal by Aston Villa loanee Sil Swinkels before Chesterfield’s Tom Naylor and Notts County’s Matthew Platt traded goals in a frantic end to the first half.
Liam Mandeville’s second-half strike proved the difference for the visitors, dealing Notts County a blow in their pursuit of automatic promotion from League Two while lifting the Spireites into the play-off places.
