'WE WERE RIGHT' (From Warrington Guardian)

'WE WERE RIGHT'

WINSFORD United boss Dave Twite believes the club's fight to clear the names of four of its players has been vindicated following an appeal hearing on Thursday.

The club appealed to Cheshire FA after five of its players were sent off during a cup match against Squires Gate in November.

And last week two of those cards were rescinded while a further two sendings off were downgraded.

Dave Turner's and Stuart Wellstead's dismissals were overturned and Neil Harrison had his 35-day ban reduced to just 14 days.

Meanwhile midfielder Jamie Williams, who appealed personally, had a charge of misconduct dropped although his sending off was not rescinded.

Twite said: "We feel completely vindicated because we were in the right and have shown that we were right to appeal against the referee's decisions.

"It's excellent news for the club but we would have felt very despondent if the decisions had not been overturned.

"We did really well, particularly for Jamie, because even I thought that one was a bit iffy."

He added: "I'm really relieved for Mark Loveless and Bob Astles because it's been hanging over the club and they've put a lot of work in.

"We just carried on and concentrated on the football but they had to think about this all the time and I think they are relieved that the club hasn't ended up with a big fine and that we were right to fight it."

Despite the success of Williams' appeal, the midfielder has decided to part company with the Blues after seeing his first team opportunities reduced since the arrival of Rob Hope.

Twite said: "Jamie has gone and to be honest he hasn't really figured in my plans since before Christmas.

"I decided to stick with the midfield pairing of Rob Hope and Mark Quinn because they have been great together and given us a really solid foundation in the centre of midfield."