‘Let down by ill discipline’ – Hawks pair Faal and Ruff fined a week’s wages for red cards in National League South loss at Bath City

Mo Faal, left, was sent off in the first half at Bath for two bookable offences. Picture by Dave Haines

For the second time in three away games, Hawks ended up losing 2-0 with only nine men on the pitch at the final whistle.

First, Joash Nembhard and Danny Wright collected three-match bans for red cards at Taunton at the end of January.

Top scorer Faal was dismissed after 35 minutes last night after picking up two bookings.

Initially cautioned for shirt-pulling, he was shown a second yellow for a totally needless trip on a Bath defender just outside the home team’s 18-yard box.

Ruff was shown a straight red late on, with Bath 2-0 ahead thanks to goals from Scott Wilson and Sonny Cox, for lunging into a tackle on the touchline in front of the grandstand.

Hawks boss Paul Doswell told The News: ‘Mo’s second yellow was ridiculous, there’s no defending it.

‘It’s hard enough to win away in this league with 11 players, let alone going down to 10 in the first half.

‘Charlie Ruff’s tackle was also ridiculous, clearly down to frustration.

‘You can’t just put it down to a bad day because it’s happened twice now.

‘It’s unacceptable and the players have been told unequivocally in no uncertain terms that it can’t happen again.

‘Most of the season we’ve only had 14 or 15 players due to injuries, and now we’ve almost got a fully fit squad we’ve still got 14 or 15 because of the suspensions.

‘I said to Joash and Danny last night that they’re just as culpable because they picked up three-match bans and were unavailable last night.

‘The players (who were sent off at Bath) let us down, the supporters down, and the club a bit. We were let down by ill discipline.’

Doswell said not every player sent off is automatically deducted a week’s pay, but that is the fate that has befallen Nembhard, Wright, Faal and Ruff.

‘Everyone is now fully aware of the financial consequences,’ explained the manager after Hawks’ third successive 2-0 away league loss.

With Dartford being Slough last night, Hawks are now six points adrift of the second-placed team with two games in hand.

In order to overtake the Darts, they must win both matches in hand AND overturn a minus nine goal difference in the process (Dartford’s is plus 29 compared to Hawks’ plus 20).

Hawks’ next two games are also away, at Hemel on Saturday and at Dover next Tuesday.

Doswell said: ‘There’s no panic. We’ve broken the last 18 games down into three blocks of 12 and have asked the players for 12 points from each block.

‘We’re halfway through the first block and we’ve got six points (Hawks had previously recorded back-to-back home wins against Chelmsford and Taunton).

‘We’ve now got to pick up six points from the next three games, one of which is at home, and then there’s only 12 games left.’

Nembhard and Wright are available again for the trip to Hemel, while Faal and Ruff will miss the Dover game. The latter will also sit out home games against Cheshunt and St Albans.