93rd Minute Decision denies Lecturer £22,000

Ladbrokes can report that the referee's decision to award a 93rd minute penalty to Southampton in the FA Cup south coast derby between the Saints and Portsmouth cost 42 year-old maths lecturer Dr Andrew Briggs from Brighton £22,000. Dr Briggs had placed a bet of £10,000 on a draw at odds of 11/5 on the match and looked set to take home £22,000 . Dr Briggs, who lectures at Sussex University, won a £10,000 bet from Ladbrokes.com after he trumphed in a competition by betting on the fastest first goalscorer in the third round. He had placed 50p on Notts County's Tony Scully to score at odds of 16/1 in the third round match with Middlesbrough to win the £10,000 bet.

Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush said: " Dr Briggs has gone on the missing list, we can't get hold of him. He's probably gone to try and find the referee or travelled to London to lobby FA headquarters to introduce video replays. This is one of the most unbelievable hard luck stories we have heard. He had turned a 50p bet into a £10,000 one and lost out on £22,000 after a 93rd minute decision."

Dr Briggs had previously said: "I think this match has a draw written all over it. With Harry Redknapp returning to St Mary's it is bound to be a tightly fought game, both teams simply don't want to lose and I figure that we're unlikely to see a game of attacking football. I'll certainly be looking to insure myself by betting in play during the game, I just dread a last minute goal that swings the result a different way."

Chelsea are currently 18/1 for the quadruple. The Blues are 1/9 favourites for the Premiership, 5/2 favourites for the FA Cup, 9/2 favourites for the Champions League and 4/11 favourites for the Carling Cup.