BOURNEMOUTH Poppies produced a show of defiance as they held title-chasing Newbury to a goalless draw despite being reduced to nine men.

Free-scoring frontman Karim Benssaouda was red-carded for allegedly raising his arms to an opponent while James Merritt was given his marching orders for a second yellow card.

But despite their numerical disadvantage, Shaun Brooks' side maintained the solidity on which much of their recent revival has been based to ride out the final 15 minutes for a deserved point.

And although delighted with the result, Brooks was unsurprisingly upset with the standard of refereeing in the game.

He said: "I was disappointed with the red cards but the Wessex League has got to do something about the standard of the officials.

"I don't like to pick on the referees but every week, when you are discussing the game afterwards, something usually comes back to the officials not being up to much.

"They are far too easily swayed by the stick they receive from the coaches and they need to stand up to them more.

"We have had six or seven sending-offs now this season and we don't have a dirty player in the team. Karim just pushed their player away and James was clipped round the back of the head by one of their players so how the referee has sent him off I don't know."

Brooks was also annoyed with the attitude of some of the Wessex League's 'elite' teams and believes his up-and-coming side are starting to get up a few noses.

He added: "We have to be competitive to be able to try and match these better sides but they seem to think we should just stand aside and let them play their pretty football.

"But we're not going to stand back and let that happen. I think clubs have got used to just turning us over but we have this all-for-one mentality throughout the club now."

And of his side's display at Faraday Road, Brooks said: "We defended as fantastically as we have done of late and even when we were down to nine, they didn't really create a clear chance.

"It was a game between two evenly-matched sides and that's credit to our players for how far we've come."

Bournemouth Poppies: Harvell, Merritt, Briscoe, Crutcher, Neville, Chengadu, Cuglietta, L Dibba, Jones, Benssaouda, Joyce (Moore 45). Unused subs: Hayes, Toy.