Forget the mistletoe lads? @Official_BRFC‘s Lee Mansell goes in for a cheeky kiss with @GatesheadFC‘s JJ O’Donnell! https://t.co/J3zRnv5neJ

— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) December 19, 2014

Bristol Rovers beat Gateshead 3-2 last weekend in a match that included one of the most unusual yellow cards of the season. Minutes after scoring Rovers’ second equalizer in the 68th minute, Lee Mansell went nose to nose with Gateshead’s JJ O’Donnell. But instead of escalating the situation to violence, Mansell kept the spirit of the season in mind and gave O’Donnell an unexpected pair of kisses.

Mansell was shown a yellow card for the act , but he was successful in diffusing the situation. And he now says that was his intention.

From the BBC:

Speaking about the incident on Monday, Mansell, 32, told BBC Radio Bristol: “We either clash heads and he goes down or I end up doing something silly.

“I did it to defuse the situation. It’s the first time I’ve been booked for kissing someone.”

He continued: “I got in the car to go home and saw Twitter had lit up and my missus said: ‘What the hell were you thinking?’

“But we had a laugh and a joke about it with the lads afterwards. It’s another thing to add to the list of daft things I’ve done on the football pitch.”

So remember: in-match adultery is a bookable offense.