Tranmere ball boy left furious after being pushed by Exeter’s Cheick Diabate

A Tranmere Rovers ball boy has been left furious after being pushed by Exeter’s Cheick Diabate during the Bank Holiday Monday fixture.

It all got rather bizarre and heated during the Super White Army’s 2-0 win over Exeter with a ball boy described to being lairy.

Josh Hawkes scored just before half time and a late strike by Elliott Nevitt secured the win for Tranmere at Prenton Park.

But the main talking point was the incident during the League Two game, which instead involved Exeter defender Chieck Diabate with the ballboy trying to waste time it would seem.

And the prize for this season’s most lairy ballboy goes to… Tranmere Rovers ( cc @nadderley ) pic.twitter.com/IgDGI8j63v

— Dan Mason (@_DanMason) April 18, 2022

Diabate was booked by the referee for pushing the young lad, though some suggested he was lucky that the card wasn’t a red instead.

In the 58th minute, Exeter wrote via their Twitter: “I’m sure a Tranmere ball boy has just been ejected from the ground??? An incident as Cheick went to retrieve the ball from a throw in.”

With the Tranmere ball boy left furious after being pushed by Exeter’s Cheick Diabate, Twitter users havd their say as the clip went viral, getting nearly a million views…

@CharlieIAnson2: Ball boys should not be wasting players time. They are not part of the home team. They shouldn’t be giving and advantage or disadvantage to either team. Simple as that. It was a little shove. No pain inflicted what so ever.

@Dowmaggio: I was there today, saw the aftermath but not the start. The stewards marched the lad off, same kind of treatment a pitch invader gets. I thought he must have pushed the player. Player got a yellow. Having seen this, the player should’ve had red, & a visit from social services.

@OpenAirEnd: How about….the prize for this season’s most bullying player goes to the Exeter no 39? Hows is that in any way acceptable?

@Thomas33466234: Was just about to say he has to be a scouser him, then I scrolled down 🤣🤣🤣 I guarantee the ball boy was waiting for him in the parking lot afterwards.

@SteelCityLewis1: Waiting for him in the what?

@Hammers54: Think you meant ‘this season’s most restrained ball boy’ if I was his Dad think I might have lamped the player. Totally uncalled for, didn’t give him the chance to give the ball back.

@wroberts291: I think you need to go to SpecSavers pal. The lad threw the ball away from the Exeter player

@scott_stonio: What goes around comes around. The ballboy clearly trying to waste time, then showed attitude when the player reacted to it!

@DGallagher22:
Behave yourself. It’s a kid. He threw a ball.
What goes around, comes around? Haha ffs

@Pandamonium1881: Look at the ball boy give it the rude man stuff after 😂😂😂

@pompeyrabbi: Magnificent stuff. Is it me or is the ball boy a lot taller than the linesman?

@Davisb5ksc: How has the linesman not told the ref it’s a red

@PAULSAU39022947: What we can see is assault by the footballer.

@LindseyC1878: Cheeky cunt pushing him like that though, his team mate’s even having a go at him, bang out of order.

@foreverboleyn__: All jokes aside, this is disgraceful from a fully grown adult professional sportsperson to lay their hands and physically assault a ball boy, who would have been under the age of 18.

@Jaywolvesfc: How olds the ball boy ffs 😭😭 saft cunt would get his head held down the toilet bouncing like that 🤣🤣🤣

@GeorgeGurkz: Should’ve let the kid and player have a straightener kid would’ve realised very quickly not to fuck about again it’s been said before play stupid games win stupid prizes

@hambuttys: shocker from tha kid there. I’d of threw meself the floor and been on the blower to me solicitor while sittin in the Royal. Free money.

@jackando1994: Too often the little scrotes get away with shit like this. Acting the big man knowing full well that the player isn’t going to confront him

@ryanpiyo: I disagree, if you wanna be a prick, then you’ll get what’s coming. Kids can be absolute wankers, no excuses for being a lil dipshit.

@dan_o_1989: In fairness he took the piss but a full grown man shouldn’t push him… I’m with the ball boy

@TonyMc1995: The boy was looking to swing digs

@nilknarfeoj: The beautiful game at its absolute best

@wwfcscott: Shame he didn’t push the little melon harder 😂 what a little scouse mug thinking he’s all hard hahahhaahahahahaha

@savearewales: Fair play to the lad, home advantage and all that. Then getting shoved by a fully grown man and standing his ground. Can’t fault him, @TranmereRovers this lad deserves a Brucey Bonus #tranmere #ballboy. Heavy-handed by the stewards to an employee who just got assaulted at work

@ollieyh: If that’s on the street the ball boy gets his head kicked in. Only acting like a big man because he knows the player can’t fight him 🤣

@PeggzAFC: When you let kids get away with anything without repercussions they end up becoming adults who think they can do anything without repercussions. The lad got pushed, no serious harm is caused from that, but not even that is allowed in this over protective/sensitive society.

@TransalpinoO: Can’t believe the comments in favour of the footballer, it was a kid he bullied, if he’d have pushed a fellow footballer that hard he’d have gone down and rolled around and around….. the ball boy was marched out of the ground btw.

@tranmeretrish1: Found this absolutely hilarious but surely the player should have got a red card for that? He’s full on shoved a kid 🙈

@marksturgeon15: Having analysed the lip reading, I can confirm the ball boy is saying “I apologise unreservedly for that misunderstanding, I greatly admire your style of play and wish Exeter City all the best in their push for promotion”

@F_Cornell29: That once in a thousand lifetimes opportunity was missed. Should of been a bang the head roll around screaming big compo job… bottled it lad

@JackTaylorO_O: Kid fully deserved it. I’m starting to think the older generation are the snowflakes with how they view these sort of incidents 😭

@adamsarchive: Whichever way you look at this, a professional footballer doing this to a ball boy is bang out of order. He’s lightly rolled the ball infront of him and Diabate’s slung him into the hoarding. Do this in a town centre to a teenager and you’re getting arrested for assault.

@geedeejay: Birkenheader if ever I saw one. Fantastic though

@FitzTheBlitz: This was where the match was lost for Exeter. Too many of their players lost their shit at being a goal down to #TRFC when a point was still well within their grasp with over 30 minutes to play.