Epsom & Ewell boss Glyn Mandeville found it hard to contain his anger at the men in black after a night to forget at Bedfont Sports on Tuesday.

The Salts were held to a 2-2 draw and missed the chance to cut the gap between them and the top of the Combined Counties League Premier Division after leaders Hartley Wintney lost for the first time this season.

And the week had started perfectly thanks to a 5-0 win over Hanworth Villa on Saturday.

However, by the end of Tuesday night’s draw, Mandeville, Daryl Cooper-Smith and Matt Tanton had all seen red, and the finger of blame was being pointed squarely at the officials.

Mandeville said: “I have never seen a referee as bad as that, he and his assistants had an absolute shocker.

“They ask for respect, and I know it is not an easy job, but when they are as bad as that, they make it very hard for themselves.

“It all started when I pointed out to the ref in the second half that a Bedfont player was encroaching every time he turned his back.

“I am not talking about two yards, I am talking 20 yards. The ref came over to me and sent me off.

“We were 1-0 up [through Cooper-Smith] when Reisse Griffin was fouled in their half. The ref refused to give a free-kick, they won the ball and went down the other end and scored.

“Reisse had tried to stay on his feet and it feels as if we were penalised for trying to blame the game in the right way.”

He added: “Then Matt got the ball in his never-regions on our goal line, and while he’s writhing around in agony, the ref points to the spot and sends him off for handball.

“The fact we still came back to 2-2 [Rob Hendry] was a positive, but the officials had ruined the game for everyone.

“Daryl was sent off for an over aggressive celebration, but you have to remember, these lads work hard all day, they want to play football, it’s a last-minutes equaliser and he gets a red card.

"I laid awake until 3am this morning going over all the things the ref got wrong, and all I can say is if I made decisions that bad, I would be sacked.”

Cooper-Smith tweeted: “I have absolutely no words to explain what happened last night. Officials potentially ruining our season and insulting players! #disgrace.”

The Salts go to Colliers Wood United this weekend, and Mandeville is still without Sam Currie and Alex McKay, while Kyle Hough and Dan Dean were back in action at Bedfont.

Mandeville has also recruited former Salt Carl Downs, and Martin Merrett – both midfielders.

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