Kieron Dyer discusses Oliver Norburn dismissal for throwing away opponent’s boot

Chesterfield assistant Kieron Dyer wondered how the referee would make reference to Notts County midfielder Oliver Norburn’s bizarre red card in his official report.

Norburn was shown a second yellow card in the 19th minute after Armando Dobra’s boot came off in a challenge and the Grenada international picked it up and flung it towards the sideline.

Despite enjoying a numerical advantage for the majority of a predictably feisty contest at Meadow Lane, Chesterfield struggled to kill-off their fellow promotion-chasers before Liam Mandeville’s 66th-minute header eventually secured a 3-2 success.

But the main talking point after the game was Norburn’s incident and former England international Dyer quipped: “We were actually wondering what the ref was going to put in his report – probably unsporting conduct or something like that!

“To be fair, (the referee) was consistent because he then booked one of our lads for booting a random ball into the stand.”

Notts County manager Martin Paterson was in no mood to discuss Norburn, though.

He said: “I’ve got no view on it. My view is irrelevant and it’s pointless talking about it because I’ve learned a valuable lesson to respect authority. I’m a little bit worried it could have an impact on my group.”

County were already trailing when Norburn saw red as Dobra opened the scoring after 16 minutes.

But they drew level in the 36th minute when Sil Swinkels turned Jodi Jones’ cross into his own net.

Tom Naylor nodded the visitors back in front from Tom Pearce’s centre only for Matty Platt to equalise moments later after bundling home from close range.

But Chesterfield improved during the second period and Mandeville’s winner earned them victory over opponents who had beaten them in the 2023 National League play-off final.

Dyer said Chesterfield manager Paul Cook threw down the gauntlet to his team at half-time.

“The gaffer didn’t shout or anything during the break, he just sat the lads down and told them, very calmly: ‘This is it. Go out there and do it’,” Dyer added.

“The first half summed up our season so far. You saw the best of us and the worst of us.

“When they went down to 10 men, we just didn’t get our press right. We lost all composure and the crowd got lifted because County got them going.

“We allowed that, after what I thought was the perfect start away from home. But the boss was very calm and I thought, second half, we were pretty much in complete control.”

Despite being disappointed by the result, which prevented his side from climbing into the top three, Paterson was proud of the County’s character.

“I’m sorry for our supporters because we’ve lost a home game and they clapped the lads off, which is all I want to see,” he said.

“I’m pleased with the reaction. The first we conceded was a bit sloppy but I don’t think there’s many teams that would score twice with a man down against a really good Chesterfield team who should be up there.

“I’m not pleased with some things and I’d like to see our lads get a fair shake. But overall, I’m pleased and proud of what they did.

“Now we’ve got to take the positives out of all the good things we did and move on, always trying to get better at everything we do.”