BEMERTON Heath Harlequins manager Ian Chalk was left frustrated with the match officials after his side’s first defeat in seven games on Saturday.

They went down 3-2 at home to Whitchurch United, having been 2-0 up through Jack Slade and Danny Young with just 15 minutes to go.

Alex Pickering, Isaac Sedu and Pamodou Touray were on target for the visitors. Chalk, right, claimed that the first goal was offside and the second stemmed from a throw-in taken from the wrong position.

“Both decisions are a huge disappointment to us,” he said.

“The offside decision is a massive mistake from both the linesman and the referee (Wayne Thomas) – they couldn’t even agree on who they thought had played the lad onside.

“The throw-in that lead to their equaliser was just as bad. The ball went out of play by our dugout. I caught it and gave it to their right back. He took the throw from in front of their dugout 20 yards away. The lad controlled it, crossed it in and it floated into the top corner.

“On both occasions the officials have just said ‘oh well, you’ll get over it’. It’s not good enough in my mind.”

Chalk did concede however that the winning goal was a stroke of genius.

“The lad won a tackle ten yards into his own half, took a look up and hit it from 55 yards over our keeper and into the net,” he said.

“It was a wonderful hit and one that our keeper would never have expected. You can’t prepare or allow for that. Whitchurch took three of their five chances and we took two of our 20.”

The club have signed Matthew Bosseli and Benn Cooper, and will travel to Alresford Town on Saturday.

Downton suffered a sixth league defeat, losing 2-1 at home to Christchurch on Saturday. Sam Purdy put the visitors in front on the half-hour mark, and Dan Saul doubled that lead after 67 minutes.

Danny Western’s 75th-minute strike was a consolation, as although Purdy was then sent off, they couldn’t find a leveller.

Sam Aldridge, Harry Crisp and Charlie Young all made their Robins debuts. They head to Bradford Town for an FA Vase tie on Saturday, and will host Vale of Pewsey in the Wiltshire Senior Cup on Saturday, October 12, when Bemerton must go to Wroughton.

TABLE-TOPPING Shrewton United made it six straight wins in the Wiltshire League Premier Division with an emphatic 8-1 victory at Wroughton on Saturday.

Craig Lewis grabbed a hat-trick and there were also goals from player- manager Graham Coombes, James Dolman, Dominic Jackson, George Plank and Jesse Walters.

They head to FC Chippenham Youth on Saturday.