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Edmonton�s Joe Burnett (right) gives the straight-arm to Blue Bomber Brady Browne in the second quarter. (CP)

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photos by john ulan / the canadian press Edmonton�s Weldon Brown brings down Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium. (CP)

EDMONTON -- Call it frustration or defending a teammate, either way Glenn January had an early night in Edmonton.

The Bombers left tackle was ejected from the 42-10 loss to Edmonton in the third quarter for rough play after getting involved in a melee with the Eskimos defensive line. January was the lone Bomber ejected, while Marcus Howard and Julius Williams were sent to the showers for their involvement.

"It was just one of those situations that happens from time to time," January said after the game. "I felt like they were taking a shot at my young guard Chris Greaves, and I'm not going to stand back and let that happen. Not sure what I did to get ejected. This is a night that is frustrating for everybody; we just need to make sure we control our emotions out there."

It was also a frustrating night for defenders of CFL officiating, as referee Kim Murphy and his group actually intended to throw out two Bombers from the game. They had January's number right, 69, but whiffed on the second ejection, identifying Chris Kowalczuk's No. 67 as the guilty party.

Problem was, Kowalczuk wasn't in uniform. The Bombers caught a break in the mixup -- Murphy couldn't go back and change the player number, LaPolice said -- and the Bombers continued short only one lineman.

Not that it mattered.

Much like the first half, when the Eskimos put up 35 points on the Bombers, the second half in the game was an exercise in frustration for Winnipeg, now winless in three tries this season. It's difficult to focus on the task at hand when the game is completely out of hand on the scoreboard.

"You try not to pay attention to that." January said. "It does make it difficult because you try to have a general mindset what you want to do on offence. The best thing to do is not get in those situations, then you don't have to worry about it."

Head coach Paul LaPolice was asked if he's seeing some frustration with his group.

"It starts with me," he said. "Everyone is frustrated, but they're a team, they're a together team, but we have to play better."

FIRST ACTION: With injuries to Buck Pierce (foot) and Alex Brink (head), third-string quarterback Joey Elliott saw his first action of the 2012 season. More importantly, they were his first snaps since tearing his ACL in a game against Calgary a year ago.

Elliott was pleased with how his fourth quarter went -- despite the Eskimos being up by 30.

"It's not like a real game (at that point)," he said. "It's a little different.

They play different coverages, play a little bit softer, but I still have to get graded on it."

Elliott was 11-of-18 for 193 yards, with one TD and one interception.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny

CRITICAL NUMBERS:

454: The offence put up by the Eskimos against the Winnipeg defence.

7: Number of turnovers by the Bombers, four of those coming in the first half.

2: Sacks by Bombers DE Bryant Turner. He has five this season and is the only Winnipeg player with a sack this year.

116: Points the Bombers have given up in three games - a 39 per game average.

56: Points scored by Winnipeg in the same span -- a 19 per game average.

7: Quarters played by the Eskimos offence before receiver Cary Koch scored a touchdown in the second quarter.

5: The number of QBs in the game. Both clubs emptied their depth charts Friday night.

SCORING SUMMARY:

First Quarter

Edm -- TD Kent 29 fumble return (Shaw convert) 7:31

Edm -- FG Shaw 42 10:32

Second Quarter

Edm -- TD Koch 33 pass from Jyles (Shaw convert) 2:30

Edm -- TD Hill 32 interception return (Shaw convert) 3:53

Edm -- Single Shaw 44 5:25

Edm -- FG Shaw 24 9:46

Edm -- TD Chambers 4 pass from Jyles (Shaw convert) 14:52

Third Quarter

Wpg -- FG Palardy 46 12:02

Fourth Quarter

Wpg -- TD Matthews 72 pass from Elliot (Palardy convert) 0:46

Edm -- TD Charles 76 pass from Joseph (Shaw convert) 9:45

Winnipeg 0 0 3 7 --10

Edmonton10 25 0 7 --42

Attendance -- 32,067 at Edmonton.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 14, 2012 C3