Soham Town Rangers assistant manager Erkan Okay has slammed the dismissal of captain Lewis Endacott after the Greens’ 2-1 defeat to local rivals Mildenhall Town last night.

Endacott was shown a straight red for a 76th-minute challenge on Hall’s Jake Chambers-Shaw, and Okay believes the sending off – which came with the score locked at 1-1 – completely changed the game.

“The sending off was a joke, if I’m honest,” he said.

“It was a fantastic challenge. It’s one that’s not really seen in the modern game – he got the ball and the player – but that tells you about the way modern football is going.

“It changed the game and we’ll be without Lewis now who is a massive player for us but it’s one of those things.”

Soham had gone into the break a goal to the good thanks to Gary Cohen’s first goal for the club, but conceded almost straight after the restart through Joseph Asensi.

Endacott was dismissed with 15 minutes to play and just four minutes later, Asensi sealed the points for Mildenhall from the spot after Chambers-Shaw was fouled in the penalty area.

“Conceding 20 seconds after half time is criminal,” Okay added.

“The decision-making wasn’t good enough and we didn’t manage the game well, which is something we have to start doing soon.

“It’s a disappointing defeat and one we’ll have to work on but we’ve got a young squad here which is capable of bouncing back.”

Soham had gone into the local derby on a high following an impressive 1-0 win at Romford last Saturday, with Matty Allan’s third-minute strike earning the Greens their first away win of the season.

Robbie Mason’s men are back on home soil this Saturday after back-to-back away games and welcome a Canvey Island side, who, like Soham, have experienced an inconsistent start to their league campaign.

The Essex outfit picked up only their second win of the season last Saturday – a 2-1 victory over Waltham Abbey – but Okay insists The Gulls will be a tricky test for his side at Julius Martin Lane.

“It will be a tough test – they will be looking to get promotion and they’ve been a Premier Division side for a while,” Okay said.

“But we’re at home so hopefully we can get a positive result.”