CONFERENCE: Crawley's Opinel appeal unsuccessful

Crawley Town Football Club have received notification that their appeal for wrongful dismissal against Sacha Opinel has been unsuccessful.

A commission held in Birmingham this afternoon decided that from the evidence adduced, it was not a case of wrongful dismissal.

The club opted for the appeal having watched the match video, and Managing Director Steve Duly said: "The wording of the referee's report stated that Sacha had lunged two footed at his opponent, a number of us watched the video and felt that this was not the case, and the challenge was 50/50. We would not have appealed if we felt there was not a genuine chance of the decision being reversed."

Opinel now misses four matches starting with tonight's match against Tamworth.