Tranmere doubt is swept away

To the intense relief of everyone connected with Tranmere Rovers, not least their bank manager, the first division club were yesterday guaranteed their place in the FA Cup fifth round when the English Football Association absolved them of any blame for the pandemonium that has consigned their scalping of Sunderland to the competition's hall of infamy.

After the deliberations, the recriminations came thick and fast yesterday as the mayhem that had reigned in the final moments of Saturday's 1-0 triumph, when Tranmere were erroneously allowed to field a full complement despite having a player sent off, was laid squarely at the door of the match officials.

The referee Rob Harris has been relieved of his duties for tonight's fourth-round tie between Gillingham and Bradford City pending a special meeting of the FA's referees' committee. His place in the Premiership could even be forfeited.

As for the fourth official David Unsworth, responsible for inexplicably displaying Clint Hill's shirt number for substitution just moments after his stoppage-time dismissal, he would be well advised to steer well clear of the Wirral for some time.

The decision to avoid the acrimony of a rematch was hailed as a victory for common sense by Tranmere manager John Aldridge. "It is the right decision and I salute the FA," he said. "I was always confident because we have done nothing wrong and they could not punish us while that was the case. But there was always that nagging doubt." He said that he believed referees should be accountable when they do something wrong. "I hoped that Sunderland would be big enough to take it on the chin and I'm disappointed that after making all the right noises after the game they seemed to change their mind in their report."

An embarrassing episode was sparked when Hill's second bookable offence appeared to bypass Unsworth. Tranmere intended to substitute Andy Parkinson with Stephen Frail but, when the illuminated number displayed Hill's 6, Sunderland were offered the most improbable of escapes.

Their manager Peter Reid accepted the decision with dignity but beneath there lurked a profound irritation, not least as a result of Aldridge's careless post-match comments that the Premiership club were attempting to sneak in via the back door.

"I took that inference as a personal slight because we have always tried to do things in the right manner," Reid said.