Harry Lewis: Bradford City keeper gets markings confused at Newport County's rugby union home

The Welsh Rugby Union owns Rodney Parade, where Dragons and Newport County play their home games

Bradford City goalkeeper Harry Lewis would have been sent off in normal circumstances.

But when he handled the ball outside the penalty area against Newport County at Rodney Parade, it's fair to say he got his lines wrong.

Referee Sam Allinson realised Lewis had mistaken the venue's rugby union pitch markings for his handling boundary.

The venue is also home to Dragons rugby union team, one of four Welsh teams who play in the United Rugby Championship.

Dragons last played there on Saturday, 4 March when they lost to Irish team Connacht.

Rival managers Graham Coughlan and Mark Hughes, however, were on differing sides of the debate that followed.

The encounter was goalless when Lewis transgressed, but was given the benefit of the doubt.

Newport boss Coughlan said: "I do have a degree of sympathy with the goalkeeper and if he's made an error, it's an error and it's a basic and it's an honest error.

"But where I do draw the line is, if our players made an honest error we'd be punished.

"Honest errors don't really count in the laws of the game so in the laws of the game it's pretty plain and pretty simple, pretty basic."

He added: "Why the laws of the game were not applied, I will never, never know... we can't pick and choose when we apply the letter of the law."

Former Wales striker and manager Hughes told the South Wales Argus: "He just thought the line was white.

"I think it's supposed to be blue or green, but the rain had washed it away.

"I think the referee displayed common sense. He understood that it wasn't intentional.

"Harry genuinely thought he was in the penalty area. It wasn't deliberate and I think the referee got it right."

The visitors went on to draw 1-1 in south Wales.