Why referee was changed ahead of Sheffield Wednesday’s win at Plymouth Argyle
Sheffield Wednesday’s impressive win at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday featured an unexpected late change in official.
The Owls strolled to victory in Devon, with a Nathan Ogbeta own goal getting things rolling before Callum Paterson and Djeidi Gassama sealed the deal in a handsome 3-0 win. A relatively flashpoint-free match saw eight yellow cards handed out between the two sides – including four to Wednesday players before the 32nd minute was out.
Ben Toner was the man to hand out those cautions, with Oliver Langford having initially been listed as the referee for the clash. The Star can confirm that Langford pulled out of the clash on Friday through illness, with Toner not having been on duty ahead of undertaking fourth official duties for Sunderland’s clash at Preston North End on Tuesday evening.
Disciplinarian Toner has now thrown out 137 cautions and five red cards this season, with those four first half yellows shown to Wednesday players coming in a whirlwind period of just eight minutes.
Speaking to The Star after the match, Wednesday boss Danny Röhl said: “This game was not easy to manage, but I think maybe the ref makes his own pressure with the early yellow cards. It’s hard then, to see where the line is for a yellow card. I can accept this, but you can look at this situation.
“In the end, all good. I can sometimes feel it with him, if you start to make early yellow cards then it’s hard for them as well. We know the crowd is there in every situation, every 50-50, you never know what might happen! But it is not so much of a situation for today.”
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