“I FEEL cheated, absolutely cheated”.
Matt Eggleston certainly pulled no punches in his criticisms of the match officials after the Sumas went down to defeat against Ardley on Tuesday night.
A controversial penalty awarded by the referee to the visitors midway through the first half after Elias Katsoloudi went to ground in the box when appearing to clip his own ankle was converted by Adeyinka Talari for a 1-0 lead.
Wokingham had their chances to grab an equaliser, but in pushing men forward late on were caught out on the break, with substitute Reece Bayliss nipping in to wrap up victory for the Oxfordshire side.
Apart from a heated exchange late on between the teams, which saw two players from each shown a yellow card, this was far from a bad-tempered encounter.
The majority of the eight cautions dished out on the night either came within the skirmish or for dissent when questioning dubious decisions.
Yet Eggleston, who saw six of his charges booked during the match, meaning the club can now expect a fine from the Hellenic League, felt the man in the middle only contributed to his side’s defeat.
“I’m disgusted, absolutely digusted with the level of the referee today,” said the joint-manager afterwards.
“There is no-one in the ground here who has seen that penalty, there has been no touch – even their subs who were warming up right by the incident said there was no contact.
“The referee from out of nowhere has given a penalty and none of us can work out how.”
He added: “There have been times when we haven’t been good enough and there have been times when we have been unlucky with commitment or injuries, but there have been so many times now when the referees and officials have just been poor, and they get paid for it and it is absolutely disgusting.
“I feel cheated, absolutely cheated.”
The warning signs had been there for the hosts early on, with Katsolouodi turning one chance wide before Sean Woodward in the Wokingham goal raced off his line to thwart the same player when he was played clean through.
Katsolouodi was a particular problem for the opposition, and it was amid a probing run which took him into the box where he was to go to ground with Will Day and Jordan Rowland in close company.
The referee showed no hesitancy in pointing to the spot having deemed enough contact was made.
Despite the protests which followed, Talari kept his cool and buried the ball past Woodward and into the bottom corner.
Although their approach play was pleasing on the eye, the hosts rarely threatened to penetrate the Ardley defence, with Rowland blazing a half chance way over the bar the only real opportunity of note with some 30 minutes played.
On thing the Sumas have been unlucky with this season, though, is injuries, and they were dealt another blow when Jake Butler – only just back from a recent knock, jumped up to contest an aerial challenge at a set piece, only to take a knock to the face.
The midfielder was quickly bandaged up, but would take no further part and was soon off to hospital, where he needed five stitches to a wound close to the eye.
Yet in his absence the side continued to rally, and Jake Wheeler deserved better when starting and finishing a move just before the break.
Dan Carter and James Clark were both involved as Wokingham surged up the right flank, where the latter’s cross was headed over by Wheeler, who had continued his run into the box.
The hosts continued to ask questions after the break, too, where Blake Stewart saw a chance hooked off the line during a scramble.
Shouts for another penalty were then waved away by the referee when Wheeler went down under a clumsy-looking challenge when chasing a hopeful ball over the top, but the referee was having none of the claims.
The same spell of pressure saw an opening fall the way of substitute Ben Broadhurst following a neat exchange of passes with Rowland, but he was off target when looking to drive the ball into the far corner.
Playing higher up the pitch would leave Wokingham suspectable to the counter attack, and they were fortunate not to conceded a second, although some poor finishing would let Ardley down.
Within moments of each other the side had rattled the post from close range before Bayliss should have scored sooner than he did.
In showing quick feet to skip past Parsons, the replacement only had Woodward to beat, but would knock the ball horribly wide when going for the corner.
But he was not to be denied his goal, and from a similar scenario and with the contest deep into stoppage time, Parson coolly took the ball past the Wokingham shot-stopper before stroking it into an empty net.
“The lads who took to the pitch, without the penalty decision, we had our chances and played some nice football at times,” said Eggleston
“But this league just shows that if you make a mistake you get punished.
“It has been a long, hard season.
“I have certainly learned from it, I know Dan (Bateman) has and hopefully the players have.”
WOKINGHAM AND EMMBROOK: Woodward, Carter, Rowland, Butler (Broadhurst), Day (c), Parsons, Rushforth, Whiting, Wheeler, Stewart, Clark
- Elsewhere on Tuesday, Woodley United saw their two-game winning streak ended by Henley Town, who kept alive their hopes of securing a top two finishing in Division 1 East with a 2-1 triumph at Scours Lane.
