HAVANT & Waterlooville co-manager Mick Jenkins blasted Northfleet official Steven Peeke for costing his team at least a point in the 1-0 Dr Martens Premier defeat at Margate.
His anger centred on the 76th-minute dismissal of Paul Wood, who was rightly booked for a late tackle in the first half but was then cautioned for felling centre-half Phil Edwards when most people felt the contact was unintentional.
Eight minutes later, Margate made their numerical advantage tell when Lee Williams headed the winner from an Elliot Martin corner.
"I rarely criticise officials but the decision to dismiss Paul was a complete travesty and the official had a large influence on the result of the match," fumed Jenkins.
H&W had held out well in the first- half against a highly-professional Margate, who rattled the bar through Mo Tako as early as the third minute.
Wood had the visitors' best chance but his low 20-yard shot was held by keeper Lee Turner.
Salisbury's defensive frailties were highlighted again in a second-half cave-in at Burton Albion, where they were buried 5-0.
It could have been so different but for home keeper Matt Duke, who thwarted a sparking Salisbury start virtually single-handedly as Martin Shepherd, Tyronne Bowers and Kevin Bond were denied chances to open Whites' account.
Aaron Webster's 20th-minute penalty, after Bond had felled Dale Anderson, was against the run of play, but it spurred the promotion favourites into action.
Whites' capitulation started on 64 minutes when Phil Starbuck grabbed Burton's second.
Darren Stride and Anderson piled on the agony in the 78th and 82nd minutes and Salisbury's torture was complete when Anderson robbed the dallying Bond and crossed for Starbuck to net the Brewers' fifth.
Bashley - and their central defender Simon Elley - had a bad day at the office as they slipped up 1-0 at home to Stamford.
It was the promotion-chasing Foresters' second successive home defeat and slid the former leaders down to sixth in the Eastern Division.
Elley, who was also booked in the first half, inadvertantly settled the issue with an own goal after 66 minutes.
His attempted block from Martin Hardy's driven free-kick succeeded only in steering the ball into the bottom corner past wrong-footed keeper Dean May.
It means the last two league goals at the Recreation Ground have both been own goals - David Goss heading into his own net for the second goal in a 2-0 defeat by Histon a fortnight ago.
In many ways, Saturday's off-colour performance was a mirror image of the Histon match with Bashley again producing some neat approach play yet lacking cutting edge in front of goal.
Newport leapfrogged Bash into fifth place after a 2-0 win at Wisbech.
The Islanders lacked the finishing touch until the 65th minute when Steve Moss's power-packed free-kick was spilt by the keeper and Steve Riley buried the loose ball.
Clever byline work by Danny Gibbons set up substitute Ashley Wright for Newport's second and lowly Wisbech only threatened with a late header, which was superbly dealt with by keeper Colin Matthews.
"It was a disciplined performance. We defended well and didn't lose our patience," summed up manager Tony Mount.
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