NORTH Ferriby manager Billy Heath pointed the finger of blame for his side's 3-2 defeat to Hednesford at referee Chris Akers.
The Midlands side twice equalised from the spot as Akers became the focal point during the match at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium.
Akers sent Heath to the stand moments after Elliott Durrell's second penalty made it 2-2 with six minutes remaining.
Ferriby's two-goal hero Anthony Wilson also saw red in the closing stages as they chased an equaliser that would have seen the gap between the two sides remain at six points.
Having seen his side's 16-match unbeaten run come to an end, Heath was angry with the manner of it.
"I'm aggrieved and disappointed," he told the Mail.
"I thought we deserved to win the game because the lads played well enough and when we went 2-1 in front I thought we had enough to see the game out.
"Obviously, the referee had different thoughts about that.
"Goals and decisions change games. You want the players to change games, but this time it was the referee's decisions that changed the game.
"It will probably sound like sour grapes but he definitely changed the game on its head because the second penalty is the most dubious I have ever seen.
"Our run was always going to come to an end but we didn't want it to come to an end in this fashion.
"We wanted a team to do the work, not the referee but we'll pick ourselves up as we have another big game this Saturday against Rushall."
The defeat closed the gap between the two sides to three points, but Hednesford have two games in hand on the Villagers and showed great character to win after conceding the first goal for the sixth time this season.
After Ryan Kendall had struck the bar with a first-half header, on-loan Anthony Wilson gave the Villagers a deserved lead.
But Durrell levelled from the spot six minutes later after Ferriby keeper Adam Nicklin fouled Neil Harvey.
Ferriby regained their lead when Wilson powered a header past Dan Crane with 10 minutes to play.
But Elliott kept his cool from the spot to make it 2-2 in the 86th minute and there was more drama to come.
Heath was sent to the stand for disputing the penalty decision and saw his side go 3-2 down when Aaron Rey directed a header past Nicklin, who had earlier pulled off several good saves.
Referee Akers' last act was to send Wilson off for two yellow cards, awarded at the same time, as Akers spoke to him and Jamey Osborne in the final moment. Wilson's astonishment as he walked off the pitch was matched by Ferriby's supporters.
NFU: Adam Nicklin, Dean Lisles Nathan Peat, Liam King, Gregg Anderson, Mark Gray, Danny Clarke , Chris Bolder (c), Anthony Wilson, Ryan Kendall (Ben Hunter 81), Ryan Williams (Russell Fry 63) Non-playing subs: Jack Muldoon, Paul Foot, Antoni Pecora
