Weird Game says Joe

"The boy took me out and I went down, and then he took Hardie out and he went down. And the referee decided to give us both yellow cards.

Joe Cardle coined Saturday's match against Stirling as a weird game after referee Steven Nicholls decided to follow Red Nose Day with Red Card Saturday:-

"They had their man sent-off for the penalty and then had the other man going off straight after. I don't know what was said to the linesman, but the referee gave two red cards in the space of two minutes. It was just unbelievable to play in. Then there was the other penalty and I'm surprised the boy didn't get another red. He got a yellow and the referee said he was going away from goal.

"Then Mase went in with a tackle and he got a red as well. Three red cards in the space of 15 minutes was a weird one to take."

Professional footballers do not want to see red cards and even for supporters dismissals can really spoil games. Joe was in agreement:-

"No, not at all, even for the other side. It ruins the game. It was a hard game, even at the start of the game. In the game on Tuesday, I thought we had most of the possession and had loads of chances and didn't take them. But, today, we got the goals, even though they were penalties. We got the rest of the goals and it was 4-1 and three points in the bag."

With the referee being so card-happy there was always the danger that the team with eleven would suffer some retribution:-

"I think it was going to be one of those ones where he was evening things up and I think that's maybe why the gaffer took me off because there was an incident with me and Martin Hardie. The boy took me out and I went down, and then he took Hardie out and he went down. And the referee decided to give us both yellow cards.

"Then, later, I touched the ball and went down as well, and the gaffer decided to take me off, even though there was half an hour left. He doesn't want to be losing his players. Mason is going to be out on Tuesday night now, and that's the last thing you want.

What did Joe think he was shown the yellow card for?

"I think it was for diving. He didn't say at the time but he said they were both for diving, which we couldn't really understand. They were both fouls, blatant fouls. I don't know if mine was in or out the box but he's carried on and then Hardie went down, and he's stopped the game and gave us both yellow cards. But we got on with it and we got the result and the three points, so we're happy."

So three points and the margin behind Raith Rovers down to two after Allan Moore's Morton held the league leaders to a draw:-

"Yes, Raith and Falkirk drew and that's the two results we look for when we get into the changing rooms. They've both drawn and there's two points in it, so it's all on us now. These are the games that have to take care of themselves, especially at home. In the game on Tuesday there, I thought we played some great stuff and we just didn't get the three points. We had so many chances - 17 corners and I think it was 33 chances - but we only got the one goal. We got the point, which wasn't good enough, but we got the three points today, so we're happy."

There's eight games left in the season and they're all cup finals, that's the way we've got to look at it. There's going to be some big games coming up, especially the game on Tuesday against Dundee. They're all big games. We've just got to push on now and hopefully get the three points again."

Nobody wants to be dropping points at this stage in the season and Joe claimed:-

"That's why we were so gutted on Tuesday night. It felt like a loss because of the two points we dropped, especially with the other team winning and seeing them at the top of the table. We've got to get the three points, that's the first priority."