FOOTBALL: Wimbledon seek a replay after Spurs' late, late show

Jon Culley
Sunday 01 October 1995 18:02 EDT
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The Football Association will scrutinise referee Gerald Ashby's report to check whether Tottenham broke any rules before their 3-1 win over Wimbledon yesterday.

Jason Dozzell appeared in the starting line-up on the Tottenham team- sheet handed to the Worcestershire official before the game. But when the midfielder telephoned the ground to report that he was caught in traffic, the Spurs manager, Gerry Francis, switched Dozzell with Gerald McMahon, who was listed as a substitute.

Dozzell finally arrived at White Hart Lane 30 minutes late, even though the kick-off had been delayed 15 minutes, and he came off the bench as a second-half substitute.

The Tottenham manouvres left the Wimbledon manager, Joe Kinnear, wondering whether his team would be entitled to a replay. The two points Kinnear queried were: 1 Can you change the names on a team-sheet once it has reached the referee? 2 Can a player who has been substituted later act as a sub himself?

The FA observer, Ray Lewis, confirmed that McMahon had started as a substitute and Francis claimed Ashby had obtained Wimbledon's permission.

Tottenham's David Howells and Sol Campbell were also delayed and Francis said: "Half an hour before the scheduled kick-off we had almost a half- empty dressing room. It was a Keystone Cops situation."

The latecomers are likely to be fined by the club.

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