IAN Robinson was left upset with the standard of officiating and the Bury Town pitch as his side were controversially dumped out the FA Vase.

The Ram Meadow pitch proved a difficult one to master due to the bogginess and bobbles, the sticky nature not helped by the sporadic heavy showers.

And the home side appeared to benefit from some generous decisions from the officials, with both their second and third goals hotly disputed by the Linnets players.

Mark Clothier's early close-range opener was quickly cancelled out before a controversial penalty, with Linnets goalkeeper Mark Watson maintaining he did not touch Steve McGavin as he went to meet him, handed the Blues the advantage only for Kevin Reacord to equalise with a neat first-time volley.

But Andy Eady's extra-time winner booked Bury their first Vase quarter-final spot for 16 years and leave Robinson deeply distressed with the manner of his side's exit.

He said: "The refereeing was absolutely disgraceful but it was the same for both sides. The key point came when their guy slumped to the floor for a penalty and our goalkeeper didn't touch him and he (the referee) didn't look for any help from his assistants.

"And in our league, when you put the keeper in the net, it's a free-kick not a goal.

"The pitch was not conducive to playing football but it was very conducive to the way they play. I can now understand why Neil Hards was complaining after Winchester went out in the last round. I don't think we deserved to lose and the manner of defeat is bitterly disappointing.

"If you're a pass and move side you can't play on that but they get the ball from back to front as quickly as possible and battle for it aerially.

"The truth is you need a bit of luck and it deserted us. We looked at the pitch when we arrived and worried. We turned up at Billingham (in the last round) and the pitch was superb and I felt good about it. But on a gluepot like that, we weren't able to play our passing game."

Linnets finished the 90 minutes at 2-2 but Vase rules dictate extra-time must be played in the first game before a replay is earned.

Robinson added: "When you've played 90 minutes and finished level, why not take it back to the other side's ground and try again? Home advantage is big thing, especially on a pitch like that.

"But we should have done better and if we were good enough, we would have got the result. We weren't at our best.

"It's going to take a long time to get over and I'm sure the players will take time to get over it."