Even the Hereford fans were singing "2-1 to the referee" at the end of this controversial encounter at Underhill this afternoon.
And Barnet manager Paul Fairclough said 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 stunned everyone by awarding the Bulls a penalty just before the interval.
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."
There is no doubt Devera's dismissal did just that. Barnet were cruising and leading 1-0, Jason Puncheon having broke the deadlock on 13 minutes with another cracking strike. Michael Leary won a header and the ball bounced out wide to Puncheon who let it bounce once before smacking the ball past keeper Wayne Brown.
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. 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, the referee deciding an Ainsworth free-kick had struck a Barnet hand, but, even if it did, there was certainly no intention. 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 having avoiding the Barnet defenders after striking the woodwork and sat up invitingly to the one Hereford attacker lurking.
The Bees struggled to create chances in the closing stages and Hereford comfortably held on. The hosts did force the ball home in injury time, but the whistle had already gone, which sort of summed up their afternoon.
Fairclough said he would be looking at the match video with a view to appealing against Devera's "farcical and ludicrous" dismissal.
"It was a shocking decision and it spoiled what should have been a good game. There was only one team in it at the time. I cannot remember Hereford getting near our goal."
He also described the penalty decision as farcical and added: "I will hold my hands up when we get beaten, but we didn't deserve to get beaten today. It was ten men against 12."
BARNET (4-4-2): Harrison, Hendon, Devera, Burton, Nicolau; Porter, Carew (Seanla 75), Leary, Puncheon; Birchall (Hatch 75), Thomas.
Attendance: 1,790 (380)
Paul Wreyford
Match Report by kind permission of The Barnet Times
