Doncaster Rovers midfielder Lee Tomlin started the 2022/23 season in the worst possible fashion after being shown a red card during his side’s League Two opener.
Doncaster were relegated to the fourth tier last season. They spent most of the campaign at the bottom of the table, eventually finishing in 22nd place on 38 points.
Gary McSheffrey’s side were unbeaten in four of the last five games, so there has at least been some form of optimism at the Keepmoat Stadium that the club can bounce straight back to League One.
They have begun the path back with several new additions to the squad. One of those players is former Middlesbrough and Peterborough midfielder Tomlin.
Now 33, Tomlin is best known for his spell at Posh, netting 11 goals in the 2012/13 Championship season from attacking midfield. He has spent most of his time since in the second tier, although he did have a six-game loan spell with Bournemouth in the Premier League in 2015/16.
After his release from Cardiff City, the former England C international signed for Walsall in February. He now embarks on a new journey with Donny – but it couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
Lee Tomlin given bizarre red card
Doncaster were taking on Bradford City at Valley Parade in their opening encounter of the new season. Mark Hughes’ side are one of the favourites for promotion this term.
With the scores at 0-0, Bradford won a free-kick in the fifth minute of additional time. Tomlin, however, was keen to delay proceedings, and kicked the ball away. In doing so, he earned himself a yellow card.
The 33-year-old disputed the decision, and several Bantams players went to remonstrate with the opposition player and the referee. However, it appeared that one of the Bradford players stepped on Tomlin’s foot, causing him to fall to the ground in agony.
Whether the referee saw the incident or not is unclear, but he then decided to show Tomlin a second yellow card in the space of just 17 seconds.
His manager, Donny legend Gary McSheffrey, labelled Tomlin’s red card ‘stupid’. Furthermore, he forced him to apologise to the travelling fans and his team-mates.
He explained: “We know he’s an exceptional talent. He’s man enough and mature enough to know that he’s done something silly. There will be no grudges held. We’ve had a chat, it’s forgotten, and he will win us a lot of points this year.
“Sometimes, you need a little lesson in the first game to know not to do something again.”
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