Lewes had Ryan Storrie sent off after a stormy finish to their 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Welling in Blue Square south.

The Rooks were convinced they should have been awarded the third penalty of the match in injury time when Andy Pearson was felled by Jack Parkinson.

But the referee waved away Lewes protests and booked Jack Walder and Kane Louis for dissent before showing Storrie his second yellow when the protests continued as the teams left the pitch.

Both sides had missed first-half penalties with Rikki Banks keeping out Dean Cracknell’s 17th minute spot-kick after the keeper had brought down Adam Stone before Charlie Mitten denied Dan Royce later after Lee Protheroe had fouled Walder.

A poor game was settled by an 83rd-minute strike by ex-Eastbourne Borough midfielder Louis Fazackerley.

Lewes boss Steve Ibbitson said: “For the first time I went with Anthony Barness to see the ref afterwards and I will be writing a report about him.

“You have to be objective, players make more mistakes than referees but it wasn’t just the incident at the end. Their penalty was one of the worst decisions I have ever seen and if he hadn’t given us one I wouldn’t have complained.

"Having said that, we lost because we played poorly and I am disappointed with the reaction of my players at the end. There is no excuse for harassing the referee.”