Upwey boss Reynolds baffled by ref

CONTROVERSIAL refereeing decisions and poor finishing cost Upwey & Broadwey dear at fierce rivals Kingston Lacy.

The Weymouth outfit went 2-0 up in the clash and should have put the game to bed before the man in the middle took centre stage in a bizarre second half.

Upwey boss Steve Reynolds said: “I have now come to the conclusion that the defeat was our own fault for not taking our chances but I have to say I have never seen decisions like it.

“The referee wouldn’t listen to the linesman and the Lacy manager was in agreement at the end, that it was all a bit of a farce.”

Ethan Devaney missed a first-minute penalty for Upwey before Jason Pearce went on to break the deadlock on 15 minutes.

The fleet-footed full-back beat several men before rifling the ball home following a neat one-two with Sam Nichols, and it was exactly what the visitors deserved for such a bright start.

Unfortunately, they then missed a couple of good opportunities before Darren Samways eventually doubled the lead in the 50th minute after a melee in the box.

At that stage Upwey looked in complete command but Lacy then pulled one back on the hour before the controversy suddenly unravelled.

Reynolds added: “We should have been at least three up at the break. Darren then made it 2-0 but once they pulled one back the first nightmare decision came.

“We had Nick Gregg in goal, who signed for us last week, and he was fantastic. His talking was excellent and he made a real difference at the back.

“Anyway, at 2-1, he clawed a shot back out that had clearly gone two-foot over the line. Our linesman immediately flagged to give the goal but for some reason the referee wouldn’t listen to him and said it had not crossed despite being in a lot worse position to see it.

“It was bizarre and more was to follow when one of their lads cut in inside and over-ran the ball, which was there to be won.

“Nathan Aston slid in and smashed the ball clear and their lad just stumbled over him but the referee, who was in the centre circle, saw it another way and awarded a penalty, which they scored to make it 2-2.

“Even their manager apologised for the decision but that was still not the end of it as their winning goal was even more bizarre.

“After equalising they pushed on again and had a shot that hit the underside of the bar and bounced down and out before Phil Anderson launched the ball clear.

“There was no way it went in but the referee, who was 30 yards away, gave it as a goal. Our linesman flag-ged to say it hadn’t crossed but he just wouldn’t listen to him and once again the Lacy boss, who was clearly embarrassed, felt he had to apologise to me.

“Like I said, the final outcome was our own fault because we had enough opportunities to bury them but some of the decisions for both sides were just incredible.”

And there was still one more to come when Samways received his marching orders for a second yellow card.

Reynolds said: “Darren had already been booked for dissent, which was fair enough, but his second caution just summed it all up.

“Basically, both Darren and their keeper were following the flight of the ball when they smacked into each other.

“It was a pure accident but the referee showed Darren a second booking and sent him off.

“To be fair, their team was as good as gold about it all but it was frustrating.”

Upwey now lie fourth-bottom in the Dorset Senior League but do hold games in hand on the majority of the teams above them.

On target for fellow strugglers Lacy were Simon Dyer, with two, and Joe Cherrett.

Upwey: Gregg, Aston, Anderson, Frost, Pearce, Young, Jarvis, Nichols, Samways, Devaney, Bochonko. Subs not used: Johnson, Ansell.