Disgraced Colchester United striker Tony Lock is likely to escape a club fine following his rush of blood and sending-off in the U's rain-drenched goalless draw with Wycombe Wanderers.

Lock had only been on the pitch for eight minutes as a 70th minute substitute for man-of-the-match Steve McGavin when he clattered into the back of Wanderers' Alan Beeton in a rash tackle.

The incident immediately sparked off a touchline brawl involving around 16 players after referee Roger Furnandiz had brandished a red card to Lock.

The player now faces an automatic three-match ban.

Angry U's boss Steve Whitton said: "I'm not very happy with the player. It was a typical centre-forward's challenge, but it's unlikely Lock will receive a club fine.

"Because it was a tackle players tend to appeal to the PFA in such cases.

"Locky was only on the field because I was going all-out for the win and I thought a fresh pair of legs might do the trick for me.

"But he let his team-mates down badly and all he achieved in doing was making a lot of hard work for them in the final 12 minutes.

"Fortunately the brawl only amounted to a lot of pushing and shoving and it was handbags at ten paces."

Lock is the first U's player to be sent off at Layer Road since goalkeeper Simon Brown was given his marching orders only three minutes into a Worthington Cup first round tie with Crystal Palace just three days into last season.

He is also the first U's player to be sent off in a League match at home since former central defender David Greene was red-carded in the 3-0 defeat against Cardiff City last November.

Whitton, meanwhile, declared himself "quite happy" with the point earned from the goalless stalemate with Wanderers on Saturday.

He said: "It was the type of game we needed to get our teeth into after the horror show at Yeovil. I felt we were the better team on the day and only three great saves from the Wycombe goalkeeper prevented us from taking all three points."

Whitton's decision to replace danger man McGavin with Lock caused concern among the U's fans who greeted the decision with a chorus of boos.

He said: "I needed to do something at that point in the game and that is the only reason I took McGavin off."

U's under-19s saw off Northampton 3-1 on Saturday with goals from Triston Chambers (two) and Sean Hillier, while U's under-17s hammered Wycombe Wanderers 7-2 with four goals from Ben Cranfield, Dwane Edwards (two) and Alex Snow.

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