Robin Hood 3 PHC 3Robin Hood coach Kyle Lightbourne slammed the officiating after his team were denied victory in a high-scoring match at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.Lightbourne saw his team come from two goals down in the first half to take the lead midway through the second, only to be denied by a late header by PHC substitute Kevin Lambe.Lightbourne, a former PHC player and coach, was furious at some of the decisions made by referee Colin Richardson, but was equally unhappy at the fact that the referee assigned to the match did not show up and delayed the start of the match by 20 minutes when Richardson agreed to fill in. And while the first half went by virtually incident free as PHC held a 2-1 lead, controversy ensued after the restart as Robin Hood were denied calls for a penalty after Antwan Russell was challenged inside the box.Two minutes later a penalty was awarded to Hood after Russell was brought down by Troy Hall Jr, but the goalkeeper escaped even a yellow card.“No bookings in the game, we get a penalty, the goalkeeper brings down Antoine inside the box and he was going through to score,” said Lightbourne of the 63rd minute penalty which enabled Hood to tie the match at 2-2.“I can see if he was going away from goal, it happened near the penalty spot and there was no card, no sending off. In the incident before that the defender (Mikey Lambe) brought down Antoine and the ref said ‘play on’ and it was a clear foul.“At the end of the day I’m not going to complain about him because he was not supposed to ref the game. The person who was supposed to do the game was not here so he filled in. Obviously the game was too much for him and we have to improve those standards.”PHC took a deserved lead midway through the first half when Shakir Smith used his pace to create space on the edge of the box and move into the box before beating Timmy Figureido with a low shot in the 23rd minute. An even more spectacular goal two minutes later doubled the PHC lead when midfielder Marquel Waldron turned on a bouncing ball 20 yards from goal and smashed a fierce shot into the roof of the net.Robin Hood pulled a goal back in the 33rd minute when Russell dribbled his way into the box and from the narrowest of angles squeezed the ball between Hall and the near post with a weak left foot poke as Hall anticipated the pull-back to his left.“PHC dominated the first half and were in control while we threatened here and there,” acknowledged Lightbourne. “With Antoine we always stand a chance of scoring a goal and that’s what happened.”Shakir Smith went close for PHC early in the second half before Fredy Mascarenhas saw a shot roll past the far post at the other end after a good move by Russell. Then Marcelos Thomas shot against the base of the upright for the home side, before Russell thought he had a sure penalty when he went down inside the box after a slight touch from behind by Lambe. The referee ignored Russell’s call for a penalty and waved the play on.Three minutes later PHC did get a penalty through Russell when the former PHC player broke free of the PHC defence and was knocked off his feet by the advancing Hall. Russell converted from the spot as Lightbourne voiced his displeasure from the sideline at no card being shown to the goalkeeper.Hood took the lead for the first time in the 73rd minute when Russell just beat the offside trap and raced through with only Hall to beat for his hat-trick. He unselfishly squared the ball to Mascarenhas who tapped the ball in at the far post. But Hood were denied the three points when substitute Lambe met a cross from the left by Marco Piper and placed a glancing header into the far bottom corner with eight minutes remaining. Even that goal came from a questionable decision by the referee moments earlier inside the Hood half.“PHC will be disappointed that they didn’t get all three points and we’re disappointed because we were in a position to get all three points and I think that comes down to a decision that the referee blows for a foul, but says play on,” said Lightbourne of the incident before PHC’s equaliser. “He said the guy took a quick free kick, but he blew for a foul and subsequently they got a corner, we never cleared it and they scored. You can’t blow for a foul and then say play on.”Added Lightbourne: “For our club it is a lesson learned. If the officials who are down to ref the game don’t show up then we’re not playing.”Robin Hood: T.Figureido; D.Albuoy (B.Robinson 64min), J.Crockwell, S.Dietz, J.Duffy, J.Kirkland, F.Mascarenhas (D.Reitz 76min), M.Pace, D.Williams, A.Russell, M.Thomas..Goals: A.Russell (33, 63 pen), F.Mascarenhas (73).PHC: T.Hall; R.Richardson, M.Lambe, K.Griffith, M.Simmons, J.Sealey (K.Lambe 71min), L.Bascome (K.Lightbourne 81min), M.Waldron, S.Smith, M.Piper, C.Robinson.Goals: S.Smith (23), M.Waldron (25), K.Lambe (82).Referee: C.RichardsonMan of the match: Antoine Russell