A black day for Bees as referee steals show (From Times Series)

A black day for Bees as referee steals show

1:10pm Wednesday 22nd August 2007 in

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EVEN the Hereford fans were singing '2-1 to the referee' at the end of this controversial encounter at Underhill.

And Barnet manager Paul Fairclough admitted he was sad to have to talk about the official in the post-match press conference. But you could not really talk about anything else.

The man in black controversially sent off Barnet's Joe Devera for a so-called professional foul on 20 minutes, and then awarded the Bulls a penalty just before the interval, despite no appeals. To rub salt into the wounds, the Bees had a last-gasp equaliser ruled out for no apparent reason.

Fairclough said: "It was a very disturbing afternoon in terms of the way the official played. I'm not one for criticising officials, it is a difficult job, but I'm really disappointed with the incident that changed the game."

"We didn’t deserve to get beaten. It was ten men against 12".

There is no doubt Devera's dismissal did just that. Barnet were leading 1-0 and cruising, Jason Puncheon having broke the deadlock on 13 minutes with another cracking strike. Michael Leary won a header and Puncheon let the ball bounce once before smacking it past keeper Wayne Brown from the edge of the box.

Apart from a Trevor Benjamin snapshot that went just over, Hereford had offered little. But, when Devera saw red for hauling back Benjamin after a Lee Harrison goal-kick had been caught up in the wind, the Bees were up against it.

Fairclough said: "The referee was ten yards from the incident and clearly indicated with his hands to play on, but the linesman, 30 yards away, signalled."

Devera did not appear to be the last man and the decision was harsh, to say the least.

The Bulls bossed the rest of the half as Barnet struggled to get the ball out of their own half, the strong wind not helping their cause. Harrison made some good saves to deny Lionel Ainsworth and Theo Robinson, while Benjamin blazed wildly over after being set up by Robinson.

The second controversial moment came just before the break, an Ainsworth free-kick hitting the arm of Max Porter. There was clearly no intention, but the referee showed no mercy.

Benjamin made no mistake from the penalty spot.

With the wind in their favour in the second half, ten-man Barnet regrouped and looked the better side. The best Barnet effort came from Anthony Thomas on the hour, his brilliant turn and run into the box ending with a shot that flashed across the face of the goal.

But it was Hereford who struck the winner on 66 minutes, Robinson slotting the ball into an empty net after Benjamin had hit the post. Fairclough bemoaned his side's bad luck - the ball, after striking the woodwork, evaded a number of Barnet defenders and rolled invitingly to the one lurking Hereford attacker.

The hosts did force the ball home in injury time through Adam Birchall, but the whistle had already gone, which summed up their afternoon.

Fairclough studied the match video after the game and said Birchall's goal looked 'perfect'.

He added: "I will hold my hands up when we get beaten, but we didn't deserve to get beaten. It was ten men against 12."