SKIPPER Peter Jackson was facing a one-match ban after being sent-off in a Town victory at Stoke which manager Eoin Hand hailed as “magnificent”.

The 30-year-old centre-back, who was booked in the first half of Town’s 2-0 success, received his marching orders from Tonypandy referee Keith Burge for a ‘professional foul’ on Stoke’s leading scorer Wayne Biggins.

Town, whose goals came in the form of a Iwan Roberts double, played the last 15 minutes with 10 men but still completed a first Victoria Ground win in 41 years.

More importantly, the three points pushed Town back up to fourth place in Division III (what is today known as League I), and ended a run of three successive defeats in major competition.

While Jackson was to miss the upcoming FA Cup-tie against Lincoln United, Hand was delighted with the way Town ended Stoke’s unbeaten home run.

“It was a magnificent performance from all the lads and their commitment was absolutely great,” he said.

“Everyone played their part, we thoroughly deserved to win it in my opinion and the result was the ideal springboard for our three home games coming up against Fulham, Birmingham and Lincoln United.”

The fact Jackson was to miss only the FA Cup first-round was down to a FIFA rule change during the previous summer.

The previous season, a sending-off for a ‘professional foul’ carried an automatic three-game ban.

It was Jackson’s second dismissal since joining Town 14 months previously – his other being against Hartlepool in the Leyland DAF Cup (now the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy).

The win was Town’s first at Stoke since Harold Hassall’s goal secured a 1-0 triumph there in 1950 and Roberts’ double took him to 11 goals for the campaign – top of the club scoring chart.

Hand added: “The lads were frustrated that we’d got nothing from the games against Preston and Stockport and they went about the task at Stoke with exactly the right attitude.

“We needed a battling performance and we got it – and what a bonus Frank Stapleton is to us.

“He took control when Peter Jackson went off and his experience shone through in a big way.

“That’s what we want from him. There is no substitute for his sort of quality and I thought he had a smashing debut in helping secure what was another outstanding away result for us.”

Stoke’s new £100,000 floodlighting system was used for the first time during the game, which attracted the biggest Third Division crowd of the day – 10,116.