TWO red cards ruined an FA Trophy third-qualifying round tie as Biggleswade Town checked the Heybridge Swifts fight back to win 1-0, writes JON LONGMAN.

It was the first meeting between the clubs and it will live long in the memory of the Swifts fans for all the wrong reasons.

Swifts deserved to be in with a shout but the shock sending off of Jack Adlington-Pile hit hard, despite the honest pleas of his team-mates.

Jack apologised to the Swifts fans and told them: “I didn’t touch him”.

The video evidence has backed up Adlington-Pile’s claims and it was Biggleswade’s midfield player Jamie Peters who it seemed should have got a yellow card for simulation.

Losing Adlington-Pile with 30 minutes left rocked Heybridge and Swifts vice-chairman Steve Spreadbury said: “It was a good game ruined by the officials.

"We are in the process of appealing over the red card.”

If the FA upholds the referee’s bad decision, the Swifts midfielder faces a three-match ban for violent conduct.

His departure was followed by assistant manager Michael Pulford’s dismissal after comments to the referee.

“I called him a clown without any expletives,” said the Heybridge official.

Then it was the turn of Biggleswade fans to shout at the referee after he denied them a penalty that would have ended Heybridge’s day.

The assistant referee flagged decisively as a Biggleswade player’s dash towards goal was brought to a slithering halt by Isaac Nkosi.

Swifts managed only six strikes on goal, five of them missing the target and Biggleswade keeper Kyle Foster was only tested once by a long-range effort from Adlington-Pile.

Debut striker Bobby Vaughan replaced Andy Farrell but the latter player had little to feed off as the runs of Ernest Okoh and Manny Osei-Owusu were checked by a solid defence.

Vaughan, who has played in Finland, Malta, Norway and Scotland, looked as though he needed decent pitch time as his shots aimed at the top corners of the goal were wayward.

However, Vaughan looks to be a useful number nine on this brief evidence and if he can continue to hold the ball up well under pressure then Heybridge will give teams plenty of trouble.