It's a choker as Mardy go out (From Free Press Series)

It's a choker as Mardy go out

Mardy 1 Croesyceiliog 3

MARDY manager Gavin Butler was left to rue some "very strange" refereeing decisions after Saturday's cup quarter-final match with Croesyceiliog.

The fan's jury is still out on whether two of Croesyceiliog's goals should stand.

The Torfaen side's first strike followed what looked like a blatant obstruction by one of its players on defender Gary Barrell, yet the referee waved play on leading to the goal.

Their third effort came after the ball looked like it had rolled over the line for a throw in, but again there was no whistle as Croesy-ceiliog stole the opportunity to catch Mardy off-guard and score.

"I thought both decisions were pretty harsh," admitted Butler. "Gary Barrell was obstructed when they had a player on goal and that should have been a free kick, while the ball went over the touchline, yet the ref continued play."

Croesyceiliog led two-nil at the break, but were a man down after a dominant display of football by right wing Philip Melville over his opposite man.

It was Melville who got Mardy back into the game with a powerful drive into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards out, while Adam White went close with his effort hitting the bar.

For all their efforts, though, Mardy couldn't find that all important equaliser as their Gwent County rivals made the most of being a man down by padding their defence out with nine men on every attack.

"Going a man down sometimes makes it more difficult to beat a side, especially when they're two up," admitted Butler. "Bar one man up front, they had everyone behind the ball defending, which made it very difficult for us to break them."

The former Mardy player praised strikers Adam White and Leon Gilchrist after a tireless display up front, while also signalling out Greg Roberts at the back and midfielders Tom Overton, Paul Hemmings and Simon Phillips, who all put in solid performances.

He called on his side, though, to learn from the defeat and take a leaf out of Croesyceiliog's football book.

"We have to strive to be more like Croesyceiliog. They are very professional in their approach and play the whistle very well. We got stung with two opportunist goals, which they wouldn't have.

"We have to more professional in approach and in many ways not be so fair. Until we hear that whistle, we must keep playing like we normally would," he said.