Saturday 21 March 2015 20:41, UK
Stevenage captain Ronnie Henry has accused Dagenham and Redbridge midfielder Joss Labadie of biting him during Saturday’s meeting between the two sides.
Dagenham won the game 1-0 but the match was overshadowed by a tussle between Labadie and Henry late on.
The pair clashed in front of one of the assistant referees with Henry straightway indicating that he had been bitten by Labadie.
There was another confrontation between the pair after the full-time whistle with Henry clearly incensed by what he thought was a bite which reportedly drew blood.
Labadie was later seen talking to a police officer in the stands at Boraodhall Way after the game.
It is the second alleged biting incident that Labadie has been involved in over the last 12 months. The 24-year-old served a 10-match ban and was fined £2000 in March 2014 for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks while playing for Torquay – a charge which he denied.
Stevenage manager Graham Westley admitted his skipper has been left quite shaken after the incident which overshadowed the League Two clash.
"I think it has become a police matter and when it becomes a police matter anybody in a responsible position should let it be dealt with by the authorities,” Westley said.
"So in passing comment, word is around the place that there's been an incident and the police are involved.
"He's (Henry) not in a good situation, he's in the treatment room and he's suffered quite a nasty injury.
"Ronnie was in a state of shock, you don't go on a football pitch expecting to lose your finger and Ronnie was horrified by what has gone on because it's a football match and he's nearly lost his finger."
Asked what he would do if one of his players was found to have bitten another player, Daggers manager Wayne Burnett said: “There will certainly be an internal investigation and it will be dealt with in-house, but until I actually know the facts I won’t comment on them.”
