THE red card issued to Bath City striker Phil Walsh in the explosive Easter Monday derby against Chippenham has been rescinded by the Football Association.

Walsh was dismissed by referee Paul Forrester for a challenge on Matthew McEntegart which left the Chippenham defender needing seven stitches. But after studying video evidence of the incident, the FA ruled the challenge was a clash of heads and overturned the official's red card decision.

The ruling means Walsh will now be available for the Premier Division play-offs as Bath prepare to welcome either Bedford Town or rivals Chippenham to Twerton Park on Monday. Romans' manager John Relish described the FA's decision as an "unexpected bonus."

He said: "The FA very rarely overturn decisions based on video evidence so this came as a bit of a surprise to be honest. "Sometimes video footage can be a little blurry but this clearly showed the incident frame-by-frame.

"The film also showed that the referee was not in the best position to make a decision. We now feel vindicated as a club." Relish said he was delighted to have Walsh back in the squad for the final game of the season at King's Lynn on Saturday.

Both sides have already secured home advantage for Monday's semi-final, but the result of Saturday's game could still determine their play-off opponents. Relish said: "More than anything I am pleased for Phil because he was always adamant he had done nothing wrong.

"I didn't see the challenge clearly on the day but I was annoyed with him at the time. I told him I would be very disappointed if the video showed he had led with his elbow. "But when we studied the film it was clear that Phil's version of events was correct," he said.

Chippenham went on to record a comfortable 2-0 victory on Easter Monday thanks to a second-half brace from leading scorer Dave Gilroy. But Relish believes the game would have been much closer if Walsh had not been given his marching orders.

"It was a bitter pill to swallow because we had to play for 70 minutes with 10 men. "If we play Chippenham again in the play-offs on Monday then we will need a much stronger referee this time," Relish said.