DALE Brightly has been axed as Billericay Town's goalkeeper.
The stopper was sent off in the FA Cup replay against Cambridge City before he allegedly aimed a head butt at an opponent as he stormed off the pitch.
After several poor performances between the sticks the Gazette understands this was the final straw for Brightly who had failed to impress the club's backroom staff with his displays this term.
"It was mutually agreed that he's gone," said manager Craig Edwards. "As it stands he's played his last game for us and we agreed it was for the best." The club will wait for the referee's report of the game and the player could be fined by the FA and Billericay Town depending on the contents of the reports.
The player hasn't yet joined another club and The Blues still hold his registration
After that FA Cup reverse Town bounced back with an excellent 3-1 victory at home to second-placed side Dorchester Town.
New signing Charlie Taylor, recently released from Barnet, got on the score sheet while new boy Joe Benjamin came off the substitutes' bench. French custodian Alex Bonnard started between the sticks. "They showed bundles and bundles of character and I was very proud of them," said Edwards.
"It was a big pressure game for us. Things haven't been going well the last three or four games. We had an awful performance against Cambridge in the replay. There was a 15 minute period and I've never seen a team defend as badly as that in my whole life. We were all over the show.
All four of their goals were horrendous mistakes."
On the signing of Taylor, Edwards said: "He's quality. He hasn't done much for a couple of months but I had no hesitation throwing him in. He scored and created the second goal."
Last night (Tuesday), Town were due to take on AFC Hornchurch in the Essex Senior Cup and Edwards will use the fixture to give some fringe squad members a game.
At the time of going press it was unclear whether or not Town would have a fixture on Saturday.
Their scheduled opponents Welling United are in FA Cup action so Edwards has contacted Maidenhead United about moving forward their league game.
"I can't imagine a side not wanting to play," he said.
"We'll have to wait and see what happens."
