CONFUSION prevailed at Brisbane Road as the referee forgot to play the first half in stoppage time – and then added it to the start of the second half.
Leyton Orient entered the second half in a League Two match with Hartlepool 2-0 thanks to goals from Aaron Drennan and Harry Smith.
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But referee Alan Young sounded the alarm to announce the end of the first half and the 45-minute mark blew.
An extra four minutes should have been allowed before the players were taken out.
Rather than find some way to right his mistake before the players head into the tunnel, Young decides to let them take a break from the first half.
After the usual 15-minute break, the players appeared expecting to move forward in the second half.
But at this point, it was decided that they should play the extra four minutes before switching the end for the 45 seconds.
The official Leyton Orient Twitter account was not affected by the decision.
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The club tweeted: “Mnmm… the referee bought both teams back after the break and has now opted to play four minutes of extra time which he ignored.
“And then the difference will be over.
“Yes, we are too.”
With the start of the second half, Orient positioned itself more and more with a third lead over Thomas James.
The fiasco came on the afternoon of Jeff Stelling, a lifelong Hartlepool fan, who announced that he would be stepping down from serving football on Saturday.
The 66-year-old made the announcement live on the show which regularly saw his love for the club extend to his show.
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