It was a miserable afternoon at Gateshead Stadium as the Reserves tumbled to another defeat and Steve Harper was dismissed.

United lined up in a 3-5-2 formation, with Andy Ferrell on the left flank and Bradley Orr filling in right side, recent full back pairing Brennan and Kendrick being away on International duty at present. Brian Kerr once again wore the captain's armband.

After some decent early moves from the Magpies despite a poor playing surface, Rovers took the lead slightly against the run of play on 27 minutes.

A low 20-yard shot from £6.75m Italian misfit Corradi Grabbi deceived Steve Harper and nestled in the bottom right corner of his net. Grabbi had been gifted possession by an awful Bramble slice, and the defender almost left his keeper high and dry again with a similar mis-timed pass.

Three minutes before the break an  unbelievable incident once again saw us end the first half a man short, as the northernmost penalty area of the International Stadium turned into the Twilight Zone. 

As Harper went to kick the ball out of his hands, he was twice impeded by Ciaran Donnelly and looked to have kicked the Rovers man, although he protested strongly that he'd caught Donnelly accidentally in the act of drop-kicking the ball.  

The referee, Nigel Miller, instantly awarded a penalty which Grabbi then converted. Sub keeper Adam Bartlett came on for Andy Ferrell to face the spot kick, but was sent the wrong way.

Harper was distraught as he left the field, but from our spot up in the stand, it looked a harsh but correct decision unless the ref had already blown for the obstruction on Harper - which he hadn't. 

Miller had previously dismissed Steven Taylor in almost the same spot when he reffed our home reserve game with Bradford in October, while his fellow whistler David Richardson also showed a questionable red card against Bernard in November in the same area of the pitch.

So that's three dismissals in only six home games this season, during which we've won only once. And with the pitch looking soft underfoot and cutting up badly it doesn't look good for the rest of our home games, poor conditions underfoot affecting our usual passing style.

Indeed it's becoming more noticeable that our better performances are coming on the road, on good surfaces like those at Chester, Old Trafford and Hyde United. 

It became 10 v 10 after 67 minutes when Blackburn's Michael Taylor got his second yellow card for a nothing challenge on Bradley Orr, who attempted to stop the referee from showing the card. An awful decision.

Diego Gavilan gave us some hope with a volleyed effort after a left wing cross found him unmarked in the box five minutes from time, but it was too little too late.

Plus points? Well, Titus Bramble got another 90 minutes of football under his belt. He looked a bit more mobile than at Hyde last week and came through unscathed, although he picked up a late booking for dissent in added time.

There was an injury scare for Jamie McClen, who fell awkwardly early in the second half after twisting his knee. However he was ok after receiving medical attention on the sidelines, Chester-le-street born Damon Robson filling in for him on the field.

Biffa

Reports