Gavin Sharpe was left to count the cost of several bizarre refereeing decisions as his Sporting JLGB side crashed to defeat in the Harold Feldman Trophy.
Sporting were beaten 2-1 by Republic of Mancunia 1st and finished the game with 10 men after captain Saul Davies was given his marching orders.
Sharpe was incensed after the referee failed to award his side two stonewall penalties with both sets of players left scratching their heads in disbelief.
And a seething Sharpe hit out at the official and says the game was ruined by an inconsistent performance by the man in the middle.
“I do not understand some of the decisions and how he didn’t give us two penalties I’ve no idea,” said Sharpe.
“On both occasions, Republic players stopped because they expected the penalty to be given and didn’t argue when we appealed.
“One of their defenders even apologised to his team-mates for handling the ball but the referee still didn’t give it.
“His positioning was very poor and his decisions were awful and it cost us a chance of taking the game into extra-time.”
Republic had taken a two goal lead through Jonny Alexander and Paul Basger before Adam Schwinger pulled one back.
Sporting laid siege to the Republic goal but failed to find an equaliser with their penalty shouts falling on deaf ears.
The frustration was too much for Davies, who was shown a red card in the dying stages as Sporting’s cup dreams were ripped apart.
“It’s frustrating because we’re so much better than that,” said Sharpe.
“The referee has killed the game. We’ve no hard feelings towards Republic because they played well and have improved a lot since the start of the season.
“But these decisions keep costing us and I’m getting sick of it.”
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