BAFFLED Sarum Youth Seniors were left emptyhanded after two late strikes from Trowbridge Wanderers nabbed a 1-2 victory.
A lively Mitch Alford put Sarum on the front foot before the break as he intercepted a back pass to circle the keeper and slot home.
The home team took their valuable lead into the second half and were looking good for victory until two refereeing decisions went against them.
Dan Paddington was impeded in the penalty box, but the referee overruled the waving linesman to dismiss any claims.
Shocked by the decision, Sarum were caught on the break as a visiting shot ricocheted off Josh Hockey and trickled over the line.
And to rub salt into Sarum’s wounds, they lost the game late on when, this time, a contentious penalty decision was awarded to Trowbridge which resulted in keeper Dan Cousins being dismissed.
Player Archie Lovegrove slipped on the gloves and came close to successfully pawing the penalty to safety with his daring effort in the goalmouth.
Dan Paddington nearly rescued a point with a late smash-and-grab but his effort crashed against the bar.
Outraged Castle Meadows boss Dave Rawkins branded the referee’s decision making as “wrong”.
He said: “I felt gutted for the players, they had done their job with a really hardworking performance but were badly let down by the officials.
“I don't like criticising referees, and very rarely do, but they got it wrong which cost us the win and three points.
"If we had got our blatant penalty to go two up late on, I’m sure we would have seen the game out but then to give one to Wanderers for a clear dive was hard to take.”
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