Ball boys sent off for time-wasting

Yeovil Town’s ball boys were all sent off in the closing minutes of Saturday’s 3-1 non-league win over Bromley, leaving the referee to retrieve the ball himself, as the bemused club took to social media to discuss the bizarre end to the game.

“The referee has, no joke, just sent off one of our ball boys…” Yeovil said on Twitter, a post that was retweeted by more than 2,000 users, before adding: “Update: he’s dismissed all of them.”

Yeovil’s match report called the game a “fiery affair” and said of the incident: “In a unique turn of events, the referee sent all the Yeovil ball boys to the stands due to claims of time-wasting.”

Local media said referee Aaron Johnson had sent off one boy for not returning the ball to a Bromley player fast enough late in the National League (fifth-tier) match at Yeovil’s Huish Park.

The other boys followed soon after, leaving no-one to return the ball for the final minutes of the game, with Yeovil saying on Twitter that Johnson himself had then been obliged to run to retrieve a ball. –Reuters