Ref rage as Toon fail to buck trend

Andy D'urso will do the right thing this week and overturn only the second red card ever handed to former England captain Alan Shearer.

The referee must have watched The Premiership on Saturday night and cringed. Replays clearly showed what most had felt at the time, that D'Urso allowed himself to be talked into making the wrong decision by linesman Graham Beale.

He sent Shearer off for an apparent elbow on Jon Fortune near the end of the 1-1 draw, but later told the Newcastle striker he will back his appeal.

The whole episode would have been avoided if the response of 21-year-old Charlton defender Fortune had been different. He went down theatrically and was then, according to Shearer, told by his team-mates to stay there.

The intent was clear; get Shearer sent off - and it worked. Fortunately, the red card did not affect the outcome of an exciting match.

Shearer said: 'The linesman said I used my elbow, but I didn't. I did not know the defender was even there. I could not believe it when I saw the red card, I feel very hard done-by.'

What got lost in all the mayhem was a brilliant recovery from the home side.

They should have been buried long before 20-year-old substitute Charlie MacDonald scored with his first touch of the ball only seven minutes from time.